War Begets War
by presidentuziel
Summary: Months after the conclusion of the third Black Hole war, war returns to Wars World as war criminals from the Allied Nations' pasts return to haunt their disciples and their former companions...
1. Not All Weapons Explode

_Not all weapons explode_

Speeches were normally made by the likes of the Premier and the members of the Blue Moon Political Assembly. But everyone knew that Blue Moon was run by the military; for the most part, it was sparsely populated enough that it was a viable means for them to govern their nation. This sparse population was what had caused Olaf and his predecessors to turn to their neighbors for industry and imports. If other lands were doing all the work, then Blue Moon would prosper.

But this speech was made to discourage that idea of entitlement. Blue Moon had been devastated, and its rich resources had been sapped by the Black Hole armies. Now, humbled, and relying on the kindness of their neighbors, the proud leader of Blue Moon was more than willing to set aside his ego, and allow foreign aid assist in rebuilding and securing their resources for all their benefit.

Olaf didn't understand most of the concepts he was speaking about. But the summary was that the Blue Moon 'Resource Allocation Departments'- the formal name for the state-owned corporations, were going to open up and allow for increased interaction with foreign investments. Normally, it was Blue Moon RADs investing overseas, and they remained quite powerful in the world economy. But Blue Moon had the greatest reserves of untapped resources in the world; resources all nations needed access to.

And Blue Moon needed to be rebuilt.

The speech went on for several minutes, with Olaf struggling to endorse ideas he'd barely heard of, much less understood. With the machines of Green Earth, Yellow Comet workers, Orange Star administration and, of course, Blue Moon money, Blue Moon would be rebuilt using its own resources. And then Omega Land would be reborn together.

The cause for the sudden public appearance of Olaf was to alleviate tensions and arguments. Many hardliners wanted Blue Moon to force cooperation, and liberals wanted Blue Moon to disarm. Olaf was the undisputed real leader of their country. The RADs kept the army supplied, the people kept the RADs working, and the army ensured that the RADs didn't become too corrupt. In times past, corruption in the RADs was tolerated, because Blue Moon's resource and labor base was in conquered territories. But Blue Moon wasn't built upon the blood and sweat of others anymore.

"For generations, our country has been built upon the blood and sweat of our neighbors, people who are now our allies and our friends," Olaf began winding down the speech, "Now, we have bled for our country. It's time to sweat for it, too. But we were not the only ones to bleed for Blue Moon in the face of Black Hole aggression. There is no reason we cannot be merely allies of convenience. We cannot forget that we are not the only ones who bled for Blue Moon; we do not have to be the only ones to sweat for our country."

He raised his arms dramatically.

"Let there be peace!" he cried, and the crowd of reporters, politicians, and civilians cheered. He grinned widely, and turned to Grit, who gave him a thumbs-up. Now was the time of truth.

"And now I must address our friends abroad. Blue moon will-"

What Blue Moon intended to do was not heard that day, for the crack of a rifle superseded the massive speakers, and there was a flash of blood, and a scream from Commander Sasha. Olaf looked down, and towards Grit, who was now covered in blood. CO Colin ran to his friend, but there was another crack of the rifle, and the boy collapsed to the ground. Soldiers rushed onto the stage, ushering Sasha and Olaf off-stage. Olaf clocked more than one trooper trying to get at his friends, and Sasha screamed for her little brother. Olaf looked back, and saw a Trooper take a bullet to the head trying to drag Grit off the stage.

"Brish!" one of the troops trying to drag Olaf away shouted. Olaf stopped struggling, and instead grabbed the trooper. His duties as the Commander of Blue Moon were more important, he realized.

"Let's go, trooper," Olaf growled, "You'll just slow down your fellows."

The trooper didn't protest, and Olaf became cooperative. An assassin! Who would be so bold! And they shot Grit, not him! If they wanted to decapitate Blue Moon, they should have shot Olaf! Not Grit! Shooting Olaf is to shoot the country. Shooting grit, and Colin-COLIN! For their sake, the boy better be fine!

Olaf was shoved into an armored limousine, a separate one from Sasha, and scrambled to different places. Standard protocol.

"I want hourly updates on Grit and Colin," Olaf instructed to some Lieutenant, "I don't care, if anything happens, I'm the first to know, do you understand me?"

He remembered the trooper that had been shot.

"Also, there was a trooper that was shot. His last name was Brish. I want his information, and draw up the paperwork for the Medal of Valor, hear?"

"Anything else, General?"

Olaf sighed, thinking.

"Yes, get a press conference together. I'm not going to allow some _terrorist_ dictate the course of action that Blue Moon takes!"

"Of course, General. I'll assume you would also like a bottle of Vodka?"

"What's your name, Lieutenant?"

"Lieutenant Gregory Carmine, sir."

"I'm putting you in for a transfer. It's hard to find a man who takes proper prerogative in his duties. You don't find that kind of initiative in a lot of officers."

"Of course, sir. I'll start working on the paperwork. And the vodka. Yours and mine. Is that all, sir?"

Olaf couldn't help but laugh. He sniffed. Springtime. Rain and pollen, two things he despised.

"No, thank you, Lieutenant. That will be all."

Olaf hung up, and started thinking. What the hell just happened? His best friend had just been shot! That's what happened! He's gone to war for smaller deeds! It boiled his blood that he didn't have a culprit right before him to strangle and destroy! And only months after the defeat of that despicable Black Hole Bolt Guard and whatnot! Oh, the snows this winter would be stained red!

Suddenly, the carphone rang, and he picked it up.

"_What?"_ he barked.

"General Olaf, this is General Nell. I just saw."

"Oh! Nell! It's good to hear from you. Let it be known that there will be blood for this! Shoot me, and I can respect you! But shoot the boy…"

"I understand, General. We're all praying for their recovery. But my condolences aren't why I called. I called because I believe I know who is responsible."

"It's Black Hole! I just know it!"

"No," Nell's voice wavered, and she gulped, "It was one of ours, General."

"What?"

"The sniper was an Orange Star soldier, General. And we don't think there's much we can do to stop him if he tries to kill again."


	2. Not All Silence is Peaceful

_Not all Silence is Peaceful_

The situation was much better than originally thought. Grit had been shot in the shoulder, shattering his joint, which would have to be almost completely reconstructed. Colin had suffered a similar injury to his knee, but the injury was all-around far more traumatic. Grit was already up and making jokes; Colin almost lost his leg and the shock had sent him into unconsciousness. Sasha was almost completely inconsolable, and refused to leave her brother's side. Olaf got the chance to meet their parents for the first time, both high-ranking members of a real estate RAD and significant investors themselves. They didn't blame Olaf for the shooting, or his failure to prevent it. They understood that their children were in the military, and always at risk of being captured, shot, or maimed.

But Olaf was still responsible for their little boy.

"Rest assured, I will bring the shooter to justice," he promised them, "And Blue Moon will do everything to ensure that Colin recovers."

"Shooter? You know who did this?"Colin's father asked.

Olaf nodded reluctantly, "Yes, we have a strong lead. For security reasons, I can't divulge any information. And none of this means any of Blue Moon's plans will be slowed or diverted. We do not give into bullies, terrorists, or invaders. I know this may seem inappropriate to ask, but we both know that your son would not want this to interfere with the machinations of our country."

"I know what you're going to say, General," Colin's mother nodded, "You have our support."

Olaf nodded, not knowing what else to say.

"The whole country's prayers are with Colin and your family," Olaf promised. That was all he could say. Colin's father, who was obviously the more emotional of the two, nodded and thanked Olaf, barely making an audible whisper. With a nod and a solemn smile, Olaf turned and went to his next destination. Though in the same hospital, Grit and Colin were put in different wards for security reasons, and Olaf could hear the Neotanks outside with their engines running. Troops were patrolling about, ensuring the hospital's security.

Grit was snoozing away when Olaf arrived. His shoulder was wrapped up and hidden from Grit's view, probably to prevent further shock. The General of Blue Moon entered, and sat in the chair.

"I don't know what to do, Grit," he muttered, "What I must do is clear, but…Just for some reason, it all seems so much more difficult than it had been. You've always got something to say in a situation like this. I could use one of your quips right about now. 'Don't git yer beard in a knot! Jist chill out 'n do whatchu gotta do!' That's what you'd say, right?"

Olaf shook his head.

"I don't get you, Grit. You're loyal to whomever you're working for, but you don't care about national lines. How do you do it, man? How can you not see yourself as Orange Star after growing up there, fighting for them, fighting us? What do you see that I don't? Sometimes I think that you'd do a better job at this than I."

Olaf scowled.

"But then I realize that if you did have my job, nothing would ever get done!"

"The boy," Grit muttered, "How's Colin?"

Olaf turned red.

"You were listening?"

"Well, I didn' think it were proper to interrupt you. Opening up like that 'n all. There's hope for you after all, O Bearded One," Grit chuckled, "How's Colin?"

"We're not sure. The doctors are hopeful, but there's talk among the nurses that the boy might lose his leg. He's also lost a lot of blood. I donated what I could. Even if we're not the same blood type, I figured it would still help out the hospital."

"That's good. Any news on what happened?"

"Yes. Nell called me. It was a rogue CO. Some man named-"

"Jameson."

"You know him?"

"He was my instructor at the academy. Taught me about using infantry acting as spotters. If Jameson wants us dead, there's not a lot we can do about it, Gen'ral. He's the best. He's also about as crazy as they come. I pegged him for being a real angry folk when I met him. Then I found out about what he was doing."

Grit shook his head.

"That was the reason I defected, Olaf. Him and Sturm. I first left Orange Star to stop him. I stayed to stop Sturm."

"And me."

"And you," Grit chuckled, "That's true. I'd be lyin' if I didn' say it weren't."

"Grit, we have the resource of Blue Moon and our allies at our disposal. Is there truly nothing we can do? I refuse to accept that!"

"He's crazy, Olaf. Not in the way Black Hole was crazy. He's crazy in the same kind of way you were when you invaded Orange Star, even when they were effectively under your control as it were. Totally dedicated to Orange Star. He got his own people killed just so that he would have the excuse to kill Blue Moon. Not his troops-Citizens. You remember Stalk? That little town right on the border?"

"Yeah. There was a riot, between Blue Moon and Orange Star loyalists. Neighbor against neighbor. Nasty stuff, there was a series of skirmishes for six months after that."

"He started that riot. I never told nobody when I found out, but it were just the tip of the iceberg. He makes Adder look like Sasha. Trouble is, it's hard to blame him."

Olaf scratched his nose. All things considered, it probably wasn't.

"I'm going to make the proposal to the Allied Nations anyway, Grit. This attack doesn't stop anything. I made mistakes, but I'm not going to make any more!"

Grit smiled.

"Good to hear. Go do what you need to do, Olaf."

"I will, friend. You get better as soon as possible, and that's an order," Olaf instructed, and Grit made a mocking salute with his good arm, then grimaced at the pain the movement caused. A trooper entered, and Olaf turned to him, glaring.

"This better-"

"The city is under attack," the trooper stated before Olaf could finish his threat, and Olaf's eyes widened. Grit tried to sit up, but his restrained wouldn't let him move.

"Who?" Olaf demanded.

"They seem to be Black Hole, sir, but…the infantry…They're not the Black Hole bioroids. They seem to be Orange Star troops."

"Get Commander Sasha. Scramble the troops. We're going to meet this head-on," Olaf instructed, and he stormed out of the hospital ward, climbing to the top floor, where the security coordination was happening. It was the best place to relay orders. He seized a pair of binoculars and watched what was going on. It was a big city, but Olaf could see black-painted vehicles escorting orange-clad troops.

"What in Winter's Name is going on?" Olaf growled, "I want a connection to General Nell of Orange Star! Now!"

Olaf began relaying orders to various infantry to begin acquisitioning supplies, and arming local troops. The defenses for the hospital were token, expecting security risk individuals-not an open attack. Sasha soon arrived.

"General? What's going on?" she asked.

"We're under attack. I could use you for a Tag engagement. Are you fit?"

"I-Yes, sir!" she declared, and Olaf nodded. He had the Neotanks move forward to protect the infantry who were securing positions in the city.

"General Nell is on the line," the lieutenant declared, and he handed the phone to Olaf.

"Nell, this is Olaf. I've got a company of Orange Star troops attacking my capital with Black Hole vehicles. Mind telling me what's going on?"

"I couldn't say, General. My guess would be Major Jameson. Where he got either troops or Black Hole equipment is beyond me. My intelligence tells me that he's working alone, though. I'll do everything I can to find out, though. But you have my word, Orange Star is not behind this!"

"I know, Nell. Keep me posted."

The troops continued to secure the city for the rest of the day, and Sasha took the night watch. There was a tank platoon nearby that would arrive within a couple of days. In the meantime, the infantry and Neotanks would be able to hold the city. They didn't seem to be bringing any Neotanks or artillery pieces of their own, and perhaps the reinforcements wouldn't be necessary. But a single Neotank platoon might be a little much against troops like this. At least, any vehicles.

As the enemy neared, over the next few days, a number of citizens with military or otherwise combat experience volunteered to defend their city, and a platoon of Recon trucks were constructed at a factory by the time the enemy arrived. Reinforcements were at least a day away.

"General, the Orange Star Commander is on the line."

"Talk to me, Nell," Olaf demanded.

"Our intelligence has turned up something interesting. It seems that Jameson was able to keep a small group of…Supporters. Mostly fanatics and broken men. People who have lost to Blue Moon. Former affiliates. Some are well-trained. Others were just handed a rifle, my guess. But Olaf, you should get out of the open, if you are. Jameson likes to use snipers. We can't tell you if it is him. But it's easy to guess that it is him. We can send Andy or Sami if you'd like."

"That would take too long. They're already here."

As if on cue, one of the Neotanks opened fire in the streets of the city.

"Be honest with me, Nell. Do you think we can catch him?"

"Not unless he wants to be caught," she said almost immediately.

"Thank you, Nell," Olaf stated, and hung up. He instructed that they would be coordinating from inside the hospital to protect against snipers. Sure enough, they started getting reports that their infantry were taking sniper shots from an unknown position. Olaf decided that Recon units would be best for combing the area to find the snipers, while Mechanized Infantry and the Neotanks held off the invaders. Blue Moon infantry continued to fight from cover of the buildings of the city, while the Neotanks valiantly held off the enemy armor. By the next day, several tank groups arrived, supported by artillery, and they blasted away at the last of the Black Hole vehicles, though the snipers remained elusive. They'd found one pair, and the recons put them down, but there were still several more somewhere in the woods.

Unexpectedly, the artillery pieces the tanks had brought with them exploded, and enemy infantry scattered from the area. Olaf learned that they'd used satchel charges to destroy them. Unusual tactics. He would have to take note of the idea. But Olaf had a better one to weed out the snipers.

There were still a handful of artillery pieces left, and so Olaf instructed that they open fire blindly on the woods. A local factory kept them repair and armed, as well as replacing their numbers. Soon, the snipers fled the forest, and were gunned down by troops, avenging their fallen comrades. Another group of infantry engaged troops near the hospital, but the enemy was quickly repelled by the arrival of several Neotanks. With that, there was no more fighting. They seem to have routed the enemy-for now.

"Major Jameson," Olaf grunted, "I will hunt you down!"

"And he will pay for what he's done!" Sasha added fierily. Olaf smiled at this. With that kind of determination, there was no obstacle they couldn't overcome!

At least, that's what Olaf hoped.


	3. Not All War Divides

_Not All War Divides_

Thank goodness the damage to the city was minimal. Engineers were already beginning to pick up salvage, detonate unexploded ordinance, and repair the city. Blue Moon casualties were almost negligible, but several infantrymen had lost their lives. Some of them were local volunteers. Olaf personally conducted their funerals, with full military honors, and declared that a memorial of the battle would be built.

Luckily, Colin had gotten through the shock and blood loss. They'd even managed to save his leg, but it was unlikely his knee would ever work again, and prosthetics in Blue Moon were still ten years behind what Colin needed to have a fully functioning leg. As soon as he came to, Colin wanted to return to duty; neither Olaf nor Colin's parents would hear any of it. He and Grit were going on leave to recover.

Sasha wasted no time getting Intelligence on overhaul. They knew who their target was, and they knew what he was capable of-Personally, and as a CO. Major Jameson was a monster, a murderer, and a mercenary. Both Orange Star and Blue Moon had labeled him an Enemy of the State, and he was now the most wanted man in Cosmo Land.

But Major Jameson was one of the most experienced men on Wars World. And he knew all the tricks, because he'd invented them, perfected them, or found a way to circumvent them. Blue Moon had no idea who they were up against. Or what.

((Break))

"Now, you're sure this is safe?" Eagle asked. The woman nodded.

"It's perfectly all right and acceptable. People do it all the time. You'll get a little wet, is all. And don't worry, I've got ahold of you."

"Don't let me go!" Eagle instructed.

"I've got you!"

"I'm coming in!"

"All right!"

With a hop and a slight splash, Eagle landed in the water, and his foot sipped on the floor of the pool, falling backwards into the water.

"OH GOD!" he screamed as he came up for hair, and failed to stand back up, flailing about. The swimming instructor grabbed his arm and pulled him up. For an Air Marshal and one of the best teachers at the Air Force Academy, he was the biggest baby she'd ever known when it came to water.

"Did you see that! I nearly drowned!" he declared.

"You slipped, is all. You can stand up, you know."

Eagle looked down, realizing that he was trying to tread water in less than four feet. Without so much as a blush, he stood up, his attempt to create and excuse having been foiled by simple observation.

"Humans don't belong in water," he affirmed.

"That same has been said about the skies," the swimming instructor told him, and Eagle grunted. Foiled again, "And babies automatically react to being in water. It's as natural to humans as walking. You've just got to get over it, Eagle. Now, first thing we're going to do is-"

Eagle heard his cell phone ring, and leaped out of the water.

"Sorry, important call," he declared, and he tottered off. The swimming instructor sighed. This was going to take forever.

"You're the one paying the checks for private swimming lessons," she told him, and exited the pool, herself. Eagle reached his bag, and grabbed his cell phone and towel.

"_Guten tag_, Sami!" he greeted, having read the caller ID, "How are you today?"

((Break))

Normally a woman in a skirt such as Sami's would expected to be riding on a bicycle, perhaps a double with her date on one seat. A motorcycle? Not quite so much. By this point, she was actually used to riding on the roads of Green Earth. After fighting on their soil, meeting with their troops and people, it had practically become a second home to her. She drove around the block a couple of times, keeping an eye out for busybodies and onlookers. When she was satisfied that nobody was bothering, she drove up into the long driveway, covered by trees on both sides. It turned, and she disappeared from the road view.

A small collection of cars and motorcycles were parked in the garage and underneath a canopy. Pilots were all alike: They all loved their fast machines. If it made rumblings noises and went over a hundred miles an hour, they were usually all over it. Unless it was a boat, in Eagle's case. She looked south, and saw that he actually had a small airstrip and a small airplane half-peaking out of the hangar, and a clearing large enough for a military helicopter. Eagle owned a _lot_ of land. Enough to get lost for days.

A motorcycle roared on the other side of the thicket, and she pegged it as being his BMW. He was still a few minutes out. She removed her helmet, and was unsatisfied with her hair. She quickly removed a brush from her bag and forced it to cooperate, then donned her summer cap. She checked herself in her motorcycle mirror, and was satisfied. It's been months since the end of the war, so there wasn't any reason to enjoy peace, after all.

She heard his motorcycle drive into his driveway, and she leaned against one of his cars, smiling in the shade. He rode up and cut the engine. He didn't need to take off his helmet for Sami to know that he was smiling.

((Break))

_Ring! Ring!_

"Augh, damnable thing!" Sami growled, grabbing her cell phone from her bag. She looked at the name as Eagle rolled atop of her.

"Not now, it's Nell," she instructed, and he huffed defiantly. One of the advantages of owning so much land was that you could pretty much do anything without people bothering you. Unless you had a cell phone.

Damnable things.

"Yeah? Uh huh. You've got it. I know. I will. Well, I'm with a friend right now. I know. _I know._ I'm safe, Nell, there's no reason to-What? Oh my god…"

"What is it?" Eagle whispered.

"Grit's been shot," she replied, and Eagle went pale.

"Right away. Thank you for telling me. I'll see you in a few hours, then. Thanks," Sami hung up, and sighed.

"Someone tried killing Grit and Colin, and presumably Olaf and Sasha at his big speech. It…It was one of ours. One of our soldiers. Orange Star Command wants me back to handle the search for him. I'm so sorry, Eagle, I know you had a wonderful weekend planned for us," she explained.

"It's all right, I understand. Seeing you was enough to make my month," he kissed her on the cheek, "Go do what you do best."

She quickly redressed and was gone within minutes, with military efficiency. Efficiency Eagle respected and admired. Well, there wasn't much use lying naked in his field alone, and he quickly dressed, as well, and started his way up to his home. He heard the sound of two engines, one smaller that was leaving, and a much bigger one that was entering. He recognized that sound.

Jess's hulking tank of an SUV.

Eagle sulked over, and waved to his fellow commander. She stopped the car, but didn't cut the engine.

"Eagle, are you not answering your phone? HQ wants us ricky-tick!" she called, and Eagle grimaced. He'd left his phone in his bag. Damnable thing.

"Forget your uniform, just get in!" Jess told him, and Eagle complied. Luckily, he still had his ID's on him. Normally, Eagle would have avoided doing much of _anything _with Jess, with whom he often butted heads, but if it were important enough that she personally came to pick him up, it had to be urgent. Particularly if she told him to forget his uniform.

"So what's going on? Know anything?" Eagles asked as the behemoth of a truck pulled out of his driveway.

"HQ didn't want to say over the phone. But if it's urgent enough, my guess is Black Hole. Hope you didn't get too comfortable with the title 'Professor," Jess teased, and Eagle could only smirk. Why did he think that Black Hole was gone? It had been less than a year between the first and second war, and only months in between the second and third.

"So who was on the motorcycle?" Jess asked.

"I had a friend over, is all," Eagle replied.

"Uh huh," Jess snickered, and her Air Force counterpart scowled.

"What? I can't have a social life?"

"I didn't say anything," she insisted, holding back her laughter, "What's her name?"

"It's S-It's none of your business!" he declared, and Jess burst into laughter, "Since when were you this interested in my social life?"

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to see your expression, and you lit up like a Groundhog's tank!" she told him, referring to the Black Hole tank's bright red flame when it exploded.

"Keep your eyes on the road," Eagle grumbled.

((Break))

Green Earth HQ was one of the best-defended positions in the world. It had been assaulted twice during the Macro Land campaign, and both times their enemies were completely routed. Now, after the Omega Land campaign, a pair of hulking Mega Tanks, each as large as a building, themselves, guarded the place, backed up with a company of Infantry and numerous tanks and supporting units throughout the area. SAM missile sites protected against aircraft attacks, a recent invention, as well as large missiles, such as the Ballistic Missiles Black Hole was known to attempt to use.

Jess and Eagle flashed their ID's to the guard, who passed them on through without a fuss. Jess's vehicle was taken into a garage where it was going to be scanned for bugs, contraband, unwanted hitchhikers, that sort of thing. It would take them hours to finish; it was a big car. She expected to be here for hours anyway, so it didn't make a bit of difference to Jess. Eagle and Jess scrambled out of the car and made their way to the briefing room, where Javier and Drake were waiting.

"General, Colonel" the intelligence officer greeted, who paused to scrutinize Eagle's civilian attire. Before he had the chance to reply, the officer began.

"As you may have heard, there was a recent assassination attempt on General Olaf of Blue Moon-"

"I thought it was Grit and Colin?" Eagle interjected, and the intelligence officer scrutinized him again.

"Is there some information you have acquired regarding to this, General?" the officer asked. Eagle bit his lip.

"I heard that it was Grit and Colin that had been shot. Not Olaf," Eagle stated, and the intelligence officer scowled.

"And how did you come across this bit of information?" he asked. Eagle hesitated.

"Media contact," Eagle replied, and the intelligence officer considered this.

"As I was saying, there was an attack not three hours ago on the CO's of Blue Moon. Unless one of you has intelligence pointing otherwise, we have reason to believe that Black Hole units are responsible. We've gathered you all here to conduct plans to begin sweeps of our Macro, Cosmo, and Omega Land holdings," the intelligence officer declared. Eagle fidgeted.

"Yes, General?"

"My source tells me that it was an Orange Star soldier. That's all I know about it, though," Eagle stated, and Drake coughed.

"An Orange Star trooper? I'm surprised that the two aren't shooting at each other yet!" he commented.

"It seems that General Olaf has greater restraint upon his temper than I originally thought," Javier added, "I can only hope that this doesn't turn to blows."

"What concerns me is that some reporter knows more about this than _Green Earth Military Intelligence,_" the Intel officer lamented, "Let me guess, you're not at liberty to divulge the identity of this person, for his personal security, is that right?"

Eagle nodded.

"Of course. Well, that doesn't change a damn thing, Parliament is crying Black Hole, so we're going to act like it's Black Hole. We're going to pull out a couple of reserve battalions to put on a show, until we know for sure who it is: Orange Star or Black Hole. If it's Orange Star, and they go to war with each other, the Prime Minister has made it clear that we won't get dragged in."

"Wouldn't reacting like this cause a panic? People will be frightened of another Black Hole attack," Jess commented.

"The Prime Minister considered that, and has decided that it's better to be safe than sorry. If we aren't deployed and ready, then Black Hole attacks and takes us off-guard again. Otherwise, we deal with a few price gougers and a couple of bad traffic jams."

"Is that your official and professional opinion?" Jess asked, half-sarcastically.

"It's the estimates that specialists on this sort of thing have put forth as their professional opinion, Colonel. And their professional opinions were able to keep Green Earth together, even when we were filled were refugees and struggling to take back our country. I would trust their opinions with my life, and I have. Mine and yours," the Intel officer retorted. Jess bit her lip.

"If that is the best course of action to protect our country, then we are obliged to do so," Javier commented, "And we have little time to waste debating about our sources. If you have faith in your sources, Major Bernstein, then I have faith in them, too. There are numerous SAM sites along the coast that need to have their construction overseen that are protecting a communications base. I will see to their completion."

"I suppose those battalions need to get their tanks cleared of mothballs," Jess grumbled.

"To the seas!" was all that Drake declared before running out of the room. Nobody seemed to notice. Eagle chattered his teeth quietly as the other two left the room, leaving Eagle alone with Bernstein.

"General. Is there something that you haven't said?" the Major asked. Eagle thought for a moment, and shook his head.

"I was just thinking that we should stay in contact with the Allies before jumping to any conclusions. Hasty decisions lead to hasty consequences. That's all," Eagle stated. Bernstein wasn't convinced.

"Something tells me that's not everything. I'll be honest with you if you're honest with me. I don't think this is Black Hole, but I don't think it's Orange Star, either."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever heard of a man named Captain Cobbler?"

Eagles grimaced.

"Oh, no, not him…"

((End))

[As much as I try to avoid 'shipping' in any way, everything that seems to be 'side development' will actually be important to the story. Crazy things pop into your head at 4 AM. Crazier still when they actually make sense.

Also, I know I said I wouldn't make original Allied CO's, but I already have two designed. One of them is, of course, Major Bernstein. For giggles, here's his bio, as if he were in-game.

Major Bernstein: Green Earth Intelligence CO.  
** Specialty:** Extra Equipment (TOW missiles, Satchel Charges, grenades, and mines all do extra damage and are 25% less expensive; all units are 5% more expensive, however)  
** Power:** Supply Lines. All units are refilled of their ammo, fuel, and specialty count. 10% firepower boost.  
**Super Power:** Counterintelligence. All of his unit info is randomized to the enemy. All of his units fire both their primary and secondary weapons when attacked and when attacking, if applicable. Ammo, fuel, and specialty are refilled. 20% firepower boost.  
** Tags:** Sonja (Intel Swap, 20%)  
Grit (Observe and Report, 10%)  
Green Earth CO's (5%)

Major Bernstein is a member of Green Earth Military Intelligence, and is one of the few officers in the Intelligence Corps worth their paycheck. In the Second War, where others kept dropping the ball, Bernstein's main priority was keeping civilian refugees and scattered Green Earth units organized and prepared. By the time allied forces had arrived, he'd preserved a large labor and fighting force for Green Earth to use. During the third war, he achieved the rank of Major due to his actions in the second war and his combat experience in the first. The other Green Earth CO's don't take him seriously due to his sometimes bad intel due to the incompetence of his fellows, but they respect him for his accomplishments nonetheless.]


	4. Not All Foes Hate

((This one gets pretty long.))

_Not All Foes Hate_

"Sonja!" Kanbei cried out, "Sonja! Oh, she is always there to second-guess me, and never when I wish to speak with her!"

"Top drawer, father," she instructed, appearing behind him. The Yellow Comet emperor almost jumped a foot. How did she always seem to do that!

"What about my top drawer?" he asked.

"Your socks? That is what you are talking about, right?" she quizzed.

"What? No! I am not so foolish to misplace my socks, whatever gave you that idea?" the emperor declared, and Sonja sighed.

"What is it, father? I'm busy with something right now…"

"Youa re never too busy to spend-"

"-Time with your family," they said together, "I know, father. What do you need?"

"I got one of those new laptop personal computers!" Kanbei declared, and he produced it, opening it up and showing the new computer to her. Sonja just rubbed her temple.

"You're wasting my time for _this,_ father? Excuse me, I have important things to do!" she berated, and walked past Kanbei, but he grabbed her arm.

"Sonja! I am disappointed in you! I had hoped that you could assist me in getting it ready for use! I know how you like to play with these devices! It has been months since the end of the Black Hole war, and so now we have time to spend together!"

She struggled out of his grasp.

"Just because the war is over doesn't mean there's nothing to do! Now I am very busy. I'll tlak to you later, father!"

"You are never too busy to spend time with your family, Sonja! Get back here! If you are too busy with your duties to attend to your family, then I relieve you of them!" Kanbei roared. Sonja stopped and turned around.

"You wouldn't!"

"I can and I have. Consider yourself on leave, Sonja. As my heir, you must know what is important in life, and your family is always your immediate concern. And I am concerned about you. You mustn't work too hard. Maybe you should be more like that Grit fellow in Blue Moon…"

"That's why I'm so BUSY, father! Grit's been hurt!" Sonja protested, and Kanbei scowled.

"What? My friend and ally is injured? Why was I not informed? Come, Sonja, we must, what is it that you say? Learn, plan, and prepare!" Kanbei started off to the intel room, but paused, and turned to his daughter.

"That doesn't change that I still want your help getting the computer running! Your duties as a commander and leader of a country do not excuse you from things such as this!" Kanbei berated. Sonja smiled, and hugged her father.

"All right, father. I'll help you with your laptop," she promised.

"Wonderful!" he cried, "You know, I heard about this interesting idea called…What was it? Twit-Arr? I think it was created by Eagle and Drake…"

((Break))

Sensei and Grimm were already present, with the old Paratrooper hanging his head and his eyes closed, and Grim enjoying a Bavarian Crème a little too much. There was another man standing behind Grim, wearing a large straw hat. Kanbei saw him and scowled.

"Who is this?" he demanded, and the man looked at the Emperor.

"You may call me the _Ronin_, Emperor Kanbei. I came here at Sensei's request. I am another one of his students. I am honored to be here with you today," the man made a slight bow. He wore a brown facemask, with a yellow cloak over his body. A sword in its scabbard could be seen poking out, and he had a belt of ammunition wrapped from his shoulder to his hip, as if it were a sash. Kanbei returned the greeting.

"I do not recall this Ronin fellow," Kanbei whispered.

"From what I understand, he was banished from Yellow Comet by your father many years ago for disobeying his orders, and has been working as a mercenary ever since," Sonja replied, "I do not know how he arrived here without our knowledge."

"What Ronin says is true. I invited him here, and I brought him here," Sensei stated. He looked up and smiled, "I may be old, but my hearing's not that bad. Ronin knows more about what's going on in Blue Moon than any of us. Probably better than anybody."

Ronin stepped forward, and activated a projector, which startled Kanbei, who was not quite used to all the technological devices Sonja was having imported. It showed a muted video of Grit and Colin getting shot, and the color drained from Kanbei's face.

"I know Olaf better than anyone outside of Blue Moon! He and I were close friends even before the first war! He would not have given such a massive speech without ensuring every security detail! He may be brusque, but he is a thorough man!" Kanbei insisted.

"I know, my Emperor. But so is the man that shot Grit-sama and Colin-san. I contacted Sensei weeks ago, because I feared that this would happen. Many will think that it is Black Hole, but the connection between the attack upon the Blue Moon commanders and Black Hole is tenuous at best," Ronin explained.

"How do you know all of this?" Kanbei asked, and Ronin sighed.

"Because I was the warden at Star Keep," he admitted, and Kanbei winced at the mention of that place.

"So it's true, then?"

"Yes, it is as you had feared, my Emperor. I have failed the Royal Family twice. But I can still serve Yellow Comet," Ronin declared, almost begging.

"Father, what is Star Keep?" Sonja asked, and Kanbei placed his hand upon his daughter's head.

"There is something I must tell you, but in private. What you should know, though, is that Star Keep was used by the Allied Nations to protect many criminals. Dangerous men and women who have dishonored their countries in some way. It was also used to protect people that are near and dear to our countries, as well, but could not defend or live for themselves. It was an Orange Star facility, but it was used by all of the countries after the Allied Nations formed."

"So who all were in it?" Sonja asked.

"A number of military criminals, as well as several organized crime bosses," Sensei stated, "Most notably, however, were three war criminals from bygone battles: Jameson of Orange Star; Cobbler of Green Earth; and, once, General Olaf's predecessor, Dimitri. Dimitri passed away during the Omega Land campaign, you must have heard."

"Yes, I recall," Sonja commented.

"The media will portray Jameson as a monster, some unthinking killing machine that's more like an ogre than a man," Ronin stated, "But I knew him well. His insanity is subtle. When I was the commander of the security forces at the request of Orange Star, I met and knew several of the high-profile criminals. Jameson is especially dangerous. He doesn't seem to be the monster he is. He's a very charismatic man. Wise. Intelligent. Plotting. He is still connected to this world. If there's anyone that could have done this, it's him."

"And Cobbler?" Sonja asked.

"Insane," Grim noted, "I fought him once, in a major skirmish with Green Earth. Almost escalated to war before the first Black Hole conflict. We were fighting over a series of islands. Ronin here was my backup, keeping what I captured. You recall? Cobbler just set everything ablaze. Every time I took an island, there was nothing. Just ashes."

"Tell them," Ronin instructed, and Grim hesitated before speaking.

"It was a brief war fought in Omega Land…

((Break))

"Major Grimm!" he heard, and the rotund officer looked up, smiling pleasantly,

"Yes sir!" he cried to the CO. Grimm respected the Colonel, but he sure as hell didn't like him. The Colonel treated Grimm as a child for his shortcomings as an officer, and never seeing his accomplishments and strengths.

"Hurry up your men! I want you at the front of this battle! We're assaulting the Green Earth positions on Manisha," the Colonel stated simply, and Grimm raised his eyebrows.

"Sir?"

"You heard me! Hurry your fat belly forward, and get into to the landers! The battleships will give you support! Major Maaya will command your air and naval support, while your men liberate the cities and push out the Green-tongues. They've been occupying our land for too long! For Prince Kanbei!"

Grimm raised his fist in support, and gave the orders to his troops to double-time their movement, hitching a ride on a nearby Recon unit. Sure enough, there were a series of landers and a number of transport helicopters. Oddly enough, there were also what seemed to be planes.

"What are those, sir?" Grimm asked the Colonel once they reached the loading shoals.

"That! That is a new plane we're using. It can hold three squads of Infantry, or one vehicle unit and a squad of Infantry. It can drop without falling behind, but it uses extra fuel to drop."

((Break))

"I heard about those! Transport planes!" Sonja interjected, "Why don't we use them anymore? We could have used them in the Black Hole wars!"

"They proved to be too expensive to produce for combat use, and vulnerable without escorts," Sensei explained, "But Grimm will get to that."

((Break))

Grimm had to resort to the advice of his lesser officers to figure out how to get all of his units into the landers, APC's, helicopters and transports. One of the Commodores that was overseeing the use of the Battleship and its escorts offered them the use of his Cruisers to hold the helicopters until they were needed, and it certainly saved on fuel. Grimm was thrilled to finally be doing something without the Colonel breathing down his neck and watching for his every mistake. Grimm had no training for paratrooping, so he was on the YCS _Kuwabara _with Major Mayaa and the Commodore.

((Break))

The island of Manisha was now in view, and Grim knew that he was going to be up against quite the force. Tanks and infantry were foxholed and buried into the hill above the beach. It was going to be an uphill battle-his favorite. Grimm gave the signal to begin landing, and the transport planes flew overhead. Battle Copters flew in, unleashing their missiles upon the dug-in tanks and unleashing their machine guns on several of the foxholed infantry.

Grimm watched as the Vulcan anti-aircraft guns opened fire upon both the helicopters and the transports. Luckily, he also saw many parachutes deploy. Even though he hadn't been able to count all of the troops in the transports initially, the numbers seemed clear now. Not all of the troops or vehicles had deployed from the planes-and only minutes in, all of the transport planes had been downed by AA guns or missiles. Dozens of pilots, innumerable troops, trapped in those giant, burning tombs…

The landers faced their own fire from artillery and rockets trying to prevent them from landing on the beaches, but not a single one missed their mark. Tanks and APC's with dozers moved right through the hedgehog traps, and infantry removed the traps they couldn't go through. Grimm's coordination from the YCS _Kuwabara_ ensured that their assaults were successful. What the Colonel had initially predicted to be a slaughter for the landing troops was a resounding victory, and Grimm instructed for the troops to press forward, and for a transport helicopter to pick him up. Grimm actually watched as the transport copter flew from the beach and to a nearby cruiser.

((Break))

Grimm waded through the recently-secured Manisha beach, and was satisfied with his troops' handiwork. They didn't stop for anything-casualties or victories, they just kept going. He actually had to order some of his tanks to turn around. Green-tongue tanks that had tried retreating were blasted away as if their backs were exposed. Damn fine work. His beachhead troops actually took fewer casualties than the paratroopers. He instructed that the towns be secured, and that emergency supplies delivered to the local population. It was obvious that many of them were malnourished, and their shops were depressingly empty. Grimm ordered that some of their excess supplies, such as candy bars, coffee, and, God Forbid, donuts be put into the stores for the soldiers to buy to get some money back into the community. Grimm heard the familiar rumble of that particular tank, and turned face.

"Colonel!" he saluted, and it was, sure enough. The Colonel replied the salute.

"Damn good work, Major! But we're not done yet! What are those men doing with our supplies?"

"Sir! They're stocking the stores! This community is severely emancipated. They need a flow of income, sir, or they won't survive this liberation. I thought it would be best if they bought from us, even if it's our own supplies. If they don't-"

"Stop there, major, I get what you're saying. Next time, consult me before misappropriating our rations."

"They're not rations, sir. They're nonessentials: Coffee, candy, cigarettes, um…Donuts."

"Donuts?"

"They can expect that to be a particularly fruitful product with me around. Sir."

The Colonel laughed louder than the tank rumbled.

"I won't judge you on that one, Grimm, we all have our vices. Get what men you can spare ready, we've got troops behind enemy lines, and we're off to rescue them. Major Mayaa will be offering air support once again, but we're without battleship support fire. One hour!" the Colonel instructed.

"Sir! Yes sir!" Grimm shouted, and the tank rolled off. Maybe the Colonel wasn't so bad after all; Grimm just needed the chance to prove himself, and he'd obviously done that with this push. He ordered a count of whatever was available, and set off with a trio of tank units, a Medium Tank unit, two Infantry squads, a Mechanized Infantry, a T-Copter, two APC's, and an artillery unit. More than enough firepower to break through a line. With Battle Copter support, they had plenty of firepower. That settled, they set off north to liberate the trapped troops.

Along the way, Grimm couldn't believe what he saw. Torched farms, burning buildings, cooked corpses-both animal and human. The scent was absolutely awful, and Grimm had to stop to puke twice at the smell and the sight. The THOUGHT of it! Starving the citizens first, then burning them in their retreat? Green Tongues! Hardly! Grimm doubted they had red blood if they did this sort of thing!

"Don't blame the Greentongues too much," the Tank unit's Captain stated, "I was here five years ago, when we used this island to attack Green Earth positions on the continent. The things that we did to POW's, sir? I'm not proud of that. I've got some reporters with us. They'll take pictures, and the truth will get out. It might be wishful thinking on my part, but we'll learn to forgive each other. For what we did to them, and what they've done to us."

"We can hope…" Grimm grunted. He referred to his map, and realized that they were near the coordinates that they were given. Just over this hill. They reached the top, and Grimm watched through a pair of binoculars. A bunch of tanks were fighting off several Mechanized infantry, taking damage from their rocket launchers. But something wasn't right. Some of the Mechanized infantry were wielding odd weapons.

"Let's go!" Grimm instructed, "Break the enemy lines! Let the battle copters soften them up first!"

The tanks moved in quickly, and fifteen Battle Copters flew overhead, unleashing their missiles. The first salvo wasn't all that powerful, but the second and third were absolutely devastating. Grimm's units moved forward quickly, and the Transport Copter moved in ahead, allowing the Mechanized troops to rappel down. When they landed, however, Grimm realized what was wrong. Some of the enemy squads unleashed a terrible weapon upon his troops, spouting long streaks of fire, torching Grimm's troops.

"Oh my god!" the captain cried. Grimm nearly crushed the binoculars in his hand. He shoved his hand into his pocket, and grabbed a pair of brass knuckles, and started squeezing them.

"_Attack," _he instructed his troops, and they opened fire with a particular ferocity. The arrival of reinforcements brought the liberated troops to further acts of heroism, pressing against their attackers as their enemies were flanked. Jets flew overhead, and Grimm saw several bombs fall from them, and quickly ducked into the tank, closing the lid. He heard the explosions, and could feel and intense heat. He peeked through the viewport, and saw that the battlefield was now ablaze. There were vehicles that weren't even damaged that were exploding under the corrosive flames.

Grimm opened the lid, and saw that the tank in front of him, the one with the captain in it was on fire, the lid still open, and he saw a corpse slumped over. With a roar, he punched into the air, visibly manifesting his rage with the swing.

"_Kill those green-blooded bastards if it's the last thing you do!"_ Grimm screamed into the radio. It didn't even need to be said. The tanks and infantry boldly rushed into the flames, gunning down every flamethrower-wielding trooper and blasting every pyro tank that crossed their path. Even Grimm grabbed a rifle and opened fire from his tank, but still kept enough composure to keep relaying orders.

With air and tank support, a squad of Infantry disembarked from their APC, just as it was hit with an anti-tank missile. They rushed to a building that was flying Green Earth flags, and he could see the gunfire from the hill over. Soon, the flags were replaced, and the remaining Green Earth units fled. Several of his troops wanted to open fire, but Grimm let them go. They had to forgive each other one day, and Grimm was going to be the better man.

He looked around, and saw only destruction. All things considered, they didn't take too many casualties; it was the infantry that took the hardest hits. He'd lost all but the squad that secured the enemy HQ for infantry, though they reported that the enemy commander wasn't there. One of the trapped tank units was heavily damaged, and they'd lost their recon unit in the blaze, but they still had most of their remaining unit. It had been a quick, devastating rout of the enemy.

"Sir! The Colonel's on the horn. He wants us to keep pressing forward, and pursue the enemy. He's got an ambush waiting for them, but he says to get ready for lots of smoke. The Green-Tongues have set everything on fire for miles," one of Grimm's lieutenants stated. Grimm nodded.

"Call back to the town, and order three Recons units. They should be able to scout through the smoke, and maybe some flare ammunition for the artillery to illuminate whatever might be in there," Grimm instructed, and the lieutenant went to relay orders. Had those damn Green-Tongues not released all that napalm, then Grimm would have had that conversation with that captain. Did these people have any honor? How could there be forgiveness for an enemy that used weapons like this?

Within minutes, several Recon trucks met up with them, and together they moved forward, including the liberated troops. No rest for the weary here. He looked to the skies, and saw that there was a fierce air battle going on. Missiles and gunfire lit everything up. Whoever was commanding the Green Earth forces was damn good at their job, though the Yellow Comet CO was giving them a run for their money. Just meters below, though, was a blanket of smoke. It was thicker than Grimm thought it would be, so he ordered his troops to don gas masks.

Rolling right past the enemy HQ, Grimm and his troops moved to tackle their next obstacle at full speed.

((Break))

Grimm's troops entered strait into the literal fog of war. It was far too thick for the battle copters to enter here, so they were acting without air support. He ordered the artillery pieces to launch flares into the smoke, which lit up the enemy positions, creating shadows in the smoke. He had the Recon units move forward, and blast the enemy infantry, which they were more than happy to do. The tanks moved up to support them, and quickly engaged some of the stragglers.

"Major! We've encountered the enemy! Are you here yet?" the Colonel demanded over the radio.

"Yes, sir," Grimm replied, "We're having trouble seeing through the smoke, but we're making significant progress, given the circumstances. We've encountered the rear of the fleeing troops. We should be coming up on you soon."

Grimm hadn't expected the enemy resistance to be this heavy. Whoever was in command really wanted to hold this island. Suddenly, Grimm saw why. Several tall buildings came into view. They were unlike anything he'd seen before. They were painted green (of course) and had several radar dishes and radio transmitters on the top. It was obviously used for communications. Green Earth was preparing to use the island for a larger invasion of Yellow Comet! This was why this battle was so important! They had to deny Green Earth access to this communications network.

"Move forward! Your objective is no longer to mop up the enemy! That building must be captured, am I understood!" Grimm declared, and his men gave affirmatives.

"Colonel, this is Major Grimm! I have identified the cause of the enemy presence, and am engaging their main force!"

"Major, I'm hard pressed here!"

"Sir, capturing the enemy assets should decrease their coordination. They've got some sort of…Communication tower here."

"Emperor protect us…All right, Major! I'll keep the enemy busy! Major Mayaa, this is Colonel-"

Grimm ignored the radio, and started relaying orders to his troops. They now had a Medium Tank unit, and by god they were going to use it! With artillery pounding a defending tank group, the Yellow Comet medium tanks moved up and almost rolled over what was left, but then took a direct hit from more tanks, which a Yellow Comet mechanized infantry group took care of, emerging from the woods after hiding out. They waved down Grimm, and continued pressing forward. The tanks dished and took a lot of damage, though.

The Green Earth troops' morale was obviously very high for them to be fighting so fiercely. It took two bazooka blasts to kill the entire crew of one tank that had been disabled by a Medium Tank. All the more reason for them to capture that tower for themselves. Now that the recon units were closer, they reported on the defenders: Just a handful more of tanks, not much else. The rest were probably busy fighting the Colonel's troops. The lack of flamethrowers told Grimm that these weren't the same group they'd just encountered. They were much more disciplined.

With just a few blasts from the medium tank and a mop-up from Grimm's tanks, the Mechanized Infantry were able to enter and secure the communication tower within minutes, and Grimm went to personally inspect it. He didn't understand most of it, but with just a few adjustments, they were able to get it working for Yellow Comet signals and transmissions, and suddenly the entire island was at their fingertips. He watched as the Mechanized infantry moved from here to the almost adjacent enemy Headquarters and quickly secured it. Grimm watched as the enemy commander tried entering a jeep and driving away, but was stopped by his troops. They'd captured that monster! Now maybe there could be some justice!

"Tell those troops I want the enemy commander up here immediately," Grimm instructed one of the radio operators. Within minutes the Green Earth commander was standing before Grimm, his hands tied. Even captured, the Green Earth commander stood proud and tall. He had a curling moustache and goatee, and, oddly enough, chest plate armor.

"You're not quite what I expected," Grimm stated in Earthan.

"Nor you to I," the commander replied in Comese.

"I am Major Grimm of the Yellow Comet Army. May I have your name?"

"Major Javier of the Green Earth Defense Force. You fight well, Major Grimm. I am honored to have fought you," Javier announced.

"I can't say the same about you!" Grimm growled, "Do you realize what you've done? My troops! Our citizens! I'm fairly sure that I saw some of your troops!"

"Major, I know what you are referring to, and believe me, I feel your pain. Since I arrived here-"

"I don't want to hear it-"

"Please, you must! Captain Cobbler is out of control! I kept him on rear guard as I engaged your commander to defend this place, but without my relaying orders, he will take command of the situation! The General had hoped that you would kill or capture him after taking the beaches, but he's been turning everything! On my honor, I would never do such a thing, I would rather die! As a man of honor yourself, you must understand that much! But if you do not stop him, then give me a blade now, and I will show you how a man of honor shows his dedication!" Javier pleased, and Grimm actually took a step back. He'd heard of old Yellow Comet lords and even officers taking their own lives rather than face shame, failure, or capture, and this man spoke of it as if it were perfectly natural.

"Get the Colonel on the horn," Grimm instructed, and he heard the Colonel's voice within seconds.

"Colonel, this is Grimm, we have captured the enemy commander and the communications tower. What is your status, over?"

"Grimm! Thank god! We encountered a minefield, and we're taking heavy casualties! They're throwing petrol bombs and their machine guns breathe fire! What madness is this!"

"Sir, I believe we are fighting a war criminal of some kind, by the Green Earth commander's own admission. They tried getting the man killed by putting him at the beachhead."

"Well, reinforce me, dammit! We're at minimal strength, we can't hold out for much longer!"

"Will do, sir. Grimm over and out," Grimm replied, and he turned to Javier.

"Can you call off your troops?" Grimm asked, but Javier shook his head.

"No, but I could contact my superiors and inform them of the situation. They want Captain Cobbler defeated, as well. Please, allow me access to the com tower, I will do you no harm!"

Grimm hesitated, and then signaled for Javier to continue. The troops uncuffed the Major, who immediately went to attend to the tower's controls. Grimm instructed for more troops to move in to support the Colonel. The winds changed, and the smoke was blowing away. From here, he could still coordinate the battle. In fact, he could _see_ the Colonel's position from here. They were backed up into a valley, surrounded by woods, and then mountain ranges. There was sporadic fire in the mountains, and the Colonel's few remaining vehicles were backing up. Major Mayaa obviously was working to liberate the Colonel, as well, as another wave of tanks was coming from the other direction, supported by rocket and helicopter fire.

"This is Major Javier to Green Earth command. Come in, General!"

"This is Green Earth Command. Javier, our reports state that the communications tower has been captured. Why are you on this signal?"

"It has, and so have I, but please! Listen to me! Captain Cobbler has gone completely rogue! He's killing civilians! You must relieve him of duty immediately!"

"Our reports state that the Captain is pinned between three enemy forces. You don't have to worry about him for very long," Green Earth HQ replied.

"Not for long," Grimm stated, "The Colonel's line is breaking, and the rockets aren't doing a whole lot. And that's a LOT of tanks."

"The situation is deteriorating for Yellow Comet! Please, you must do something!"

"We hear you, Major. We'll attend to it."

There was an audible click, and Javier's face paled.

"Oh, no…Eagle! Colonel Eagle! Come in, Eagle!"

"This is Colonel Eagle. That you, Javier? I thought you'd been captured?"

"I have, but look! HQ is about to give you orders to open fire on a valley! You must disregard those orders! You are going to hit Green Earth troops!"

"What?"

"They want to remove Captain Cobbler, even if that includes killing our own men! My men! Please!"

"Roger that, I'll hold off, Javier, but I can only delay them for so long before they send someone else to do it."

"I hear you," Javier declared, and he turned to Grimm.

"Major, please, listen! You have to give me back command of my troops! They will listen to me! Allow me to command just a few of my troops, and I can relieve Cobbler of duty! Nobody else has to die!"

"I'm right on top of you. Soldier! Get Major Javier's command staff up here, and release his troops! Tell them that they're going to rejoin their main body under Javier's command!"

"Sir, I'm putting forth my official protest," one of Grimm's officers declared.

"Noted. We'll discuss it _after_ we save the Colonel's life, understand?" Grimm asked.

"Yes sir. Just because I object doesn't mean I disagree. Right away, sir," and the officer bolted away. Javier and Grimm began relaying orders to their respective units, and it was the oddest feeling. Suddenly, Grimm was working alongside a man he was almost prepared to shoot not a half hour ago. It was no longer a question of maybe if there was hope for peace. There was definitely a chance. Their enemies were human, after all-and so were the men and women fighting for Yellow Comet.

"Javier, when this war is over, you have my word that this island will never again be used to attack Green Earth," he promised, "Even if it destroys my career."

"And I will promise you that we will never again seize it. I designed this tower without even thinking of what it would be used for. Never did I condone the starvation and oppression of the locals. Let it be known that I was kind to them," he declared, and Grimm nodded, and continued relaying orders, for all the good it did the Colonel. The last of the Colonel's troops were blasted away, and Grimm watched through a telescope as the Green Earth troops dragged the Colonel out of his command APC. Grimm was too late.

"No…"

"Oi! This is Capt'n Cobbler to the Yellah-Bellah commander! I got sum'min' you want!" he heard over the radio. His accent wasn't the normal Earthan. Grimm grabbed it.

"I see you, Cobbler. I've got someone here who wants to talk to you," Grimm replied, and he handed it to Javier.

"This is Major Javier to Captain Cobbler. You are ordered to stand down, defer command to your second, and surrender your weapon."

"See, I can't do that, Majah. You're captured. Compromised. How'sabout a switch, though? I gots me a Colonel. What do you got?"

"I can release Major Javier," Grimm replied. He had a perfect view of the Colonel and Captain Cobbler. Cobbler wore a green bowler cap and a long trenchcoat over his uniform. He also had slightly-singed muttonchops-and-moustache facial hair. He toted a corncob pipe in his pocket. Good telescope.

"Aw, now a Colonel for a Majah? That's not a fair trade! Figures you Yellah Bellahs would try to screw me over. How'sabout one of your Lieutenants, and we'll call it even?"

"I can't do that," Grimm told him.

"Why don'tcha ask your Colonel about that?" Cobbler asked, and he put the radio to the Colonel's head.

"Don't give him anything, Grimm! You're a damn fine officer, Grimm. I know I was hard on you. You're in command now!"

Cobbler took back the radio.

"Oh, well, I guess I'm talkin' to a Colonel now! Colonel for Colonel?"

"You heard him. I can give you Javier. That's it," Grimm said.

"God damn shame," Cobbler said, and he hung up the radio and grabbed a gas can. _No!_ Grimm watched as Captain Cobbler doused the Colonel in gasoline, and then took out his pipe, put some tobacco in it, and lit his pipe with a lighter. The colonel was crying, shouting, and cursing the Captain. Cobbler blew some smoke, enjoying the tobacco, then relit the lighter, and tossed it onto the puddle of gasoline at the base of the Colonel.

It took milliseconds for the Colonel to go up into smoke. Cobbler had a bit of gasoline on his foot, and so his boot caught fire, too, but he quickly stomped it out. Within just a few seconds, the Colonel stopped writhing. A squad of Javier's troops quickly arrived, pointing guns at the Captain, who turned over his sidearm, but kept his pipe, and strutted away from the crime.

"Go," Grimm said.

"What?" Javier asked.

"Go. To your men. Give them a message or whatever. Take command of your troops, and get out of my sight. I never want to see you again."

"I understand, Maj-Colonel."

Javier quickly informed HQ that he'd been released by the Yellow Comet commander, and swiftly took his staff and left. There were no Green Earth vehicles left in the compound, so Yellow Comet trucks took them. Major Mayaa allowed the Green Earth units to pass unhindered. Grimm was now in charge, but at what cost!

((Break))

"Grimm…I had no idea that you had seen that kind of war before," Sonja admitted, "You're always so…"

"Boisterous? Loud?" Grimm smiled.

"Jolly!" she admitted, and Grimm let out a laugh.

"I don't think about it much anymore. Especially since seeing Javier again. Honestly, I wish I hadn't told him that I never wanted to see him again. He's a good man," Grimm admitted, "War does strange things to people. And we kept our promises to each other, too! Our countries never did use that island against each other. I own a home there now, too. Good place to live."

"I hadn't realized you'd given all those supplies to the locals," Ronin admitted, "That was a good thing you did."

"A deed of a true Yellow Comet CO!" Kanbei declared.

"You were still hasty and reckless in that battle!" Sensei berated, "You're lucky it was just push, push, push!"

"I know, Sensei. I've gotten more careful about that sort of thing, I swear. Well, after that, Yellow Comet and Green Earth made peace. Captain Cobbler was court-martialed and tried for war crimes. Convicted, too."

"Unfortunately, he was put on Star Island. Where I failed to stop him again," Ronin added.

"Don't beat yourself up about that, Mayaa. Neither time were you responsible for what happened. You had a minimal force on Manisha to stop him, and you had nothing but security guards and a couple of armored trucks on Star Island."

"Thank you for your kind words, but I still failed in my responsibilities. I am no longer Mayaa, old friend. I am _ronin_, now and forever for my failures. But now you see, gentlemen, the kind of people that we must deal with now. Cobbler was a genius when it came to terror tactics. His men, his enemies, his citizens all feared him. I once caught a guard bribed by Black Hole trying to smuggle him out. He's the sort of person they want in their army."

"And Jameson?" Sonja asked. Ronin tightened his jaw.

"Jameson is worse, if only because he is even better at inspiring awe and fear into those he encounters. Yellow Comet must commit to finding these men, and bringing them to justice! Emperor, if I may be so bold, I need resources. Men, intelligence, time, money. It is above my station and position in life to ask this of you, after I hurt our country…How I hurt you-"

Kanbei raised his hand.

"You did nothing to harm my family. You merely failed in your tasks, and you have worked diligently to fix your mistakes, Ronin Mayaa. You have shouldered your shame, and I release you of it. You are forgiven. Everything you need to find both Captain Cobbler and Major Jameson, you will have. You will even have your rank back."

"I am not worthy. Thank you, Emperor Kanbei. I will begin immediately," Ronin promised. He turned to Grimm, who was staring into space, thinking, "After I take an old friend out for his favorite pastries."

"Of course," Kanbei stated, and allowed them to leave. Grimm paused in front of Sonja for a moment, and it looked as if he were about to say something, but left without a word, just a nod.

"Come Sonja!" Kanbei instructed, "It has been a long night, and my computer still needs to be set up!"

"Of course, father," Sonja agreed, and she followed him to their quarters, where they lived when they needed to be in the HQ. It was reaching midnight now! Goodness! Kanbei set the laptop upon the table, and booted it up.

"I don't remember much about that conflict with Green Earth. It was so long ago!" Sonja commented.

"Eight years," Kanbei nodded, "You were only fourteen. Still in at the academy, sheltered by international law. That is where you met Sami-san, is it not?"

"It was. You mentioned something about my mother earlier?" Sonja asked. She took a few moments to explain a couple of things on the computer in terms Kanbei would understand.

"Yes…Your mother…Please, it's been a long night, Sonja. I don't want to think about it right now. Tomorrow, perhaps?"

Sonja looked at him teasingly.

"Well, if you're too tired to talk about mother, then you're too tired to work on your computer," she insisted. Kanbei smiled.

"Of course. It's been a long night, indeed. We should retire, and continue in the morning," he agreed, standing. Sonja shut the computer down.

"Good night, father."

"Good night, Sonja. I love you," he assured her. She smiled warmly.

"I love you, too, father," she replied. Kanbei entered his bedroom, but knew he wouldn't sleep. The truth, a truth he'd buried for years, had dragged its dirty feet all over his happy home. Would she ever said, 'I love you too, father' if she knew that Kanbei had lied about her mother's death?

That she was still alive?

((End))

[Whew, long one. I decided to go for 'Show, not tell' after that second chapter. Well, if I'm going to create one Allied CO, I might as well create several. I'm ONLY making 3 of these guys for the Allies. No more-One for all of the countries except Orange Star. They have too many as it is.

**Ronin**: Yellow Comet CO  
**Specialty:** Coordinated Attacks. Gains bonuses for the same units being attacked, or attacking the same unit with different troops on the same day, but initial attacks have debuffs.  
**Power:** Combined Arms. All troops fire both primary and secondary weapons if applicable. Day to Day buff increases drastically. 10% firepower bonus.  
**Super Power:** If several units are adjacent to an enemy, when one attacks (or is attacked) the others get a free attack. All units fire both weapons, if applicable. 20% firepower boost.  
**Tags:** Kanbei (Feudal Loyalty, 20%)  
Grimm (War Buddies, 10%)  
Hawke (Common Enemy, 10%)  
Sonja (5%)  
Sensei (5%)  
Cobbler (Tag Break, -15%)

Once known as Major Mayaa, Ronin was disgraced for a great failure that ended in the Yellow Comet Empress's apparent death, but refused to accept that he could no longer serve his country, and became a wandering warrior. He eventually found employment in Orange Star, and coordinated security forces to protect Star Island, a High-Max prison/asylum facility in Omega Land. It was later used to hold war criminals. However, during the Omega Land war, it was seized by Black Hole forces, and the prisoners were used as test subjects, though several of them escaped. Ronin later tracked down some of the escapees, but was too late to prevent them from committing further acts of terror.

**Hit: **Teamwork  
**Miss: **Chaos


	5. Not All Lies Destroy

_Not All Secrets Erode_

Technically, the Allied Nations no longer existed. However, given everything that happened over the course of only four years, none of the major powers wanted to risk an escalating conflict, and so the machinations to prevent war were put into play. One of the major efforts was the occupation of Black Hole territories by all 4 powers, splitting them up into occupation zones. What had once been lands of unethical science and war were now the grounds for lasting peace.

The plane landed in the Macro Land Black Hole Occupation Zone, and Olaf recognized the airport that they were landing in. Emperor Kanbei had used it in pursuing Sturm. And now there was a small Black Hole security force welcoming Olaf's arrival, alongside token Blue Moon occupation troops. Black Hole no longer used Bioroid soldiers-at least, not officially, it was written into the terms of their surrender. With Lash still in a place of power, however, the research probably had not ended. The Black Hole troops were actually former Allied troops who volunteered for the fat paycheck and the chance to do something they knew how to do. Times changed. War didn't.

The plane landed, and Olaf stepped off, and was greeted by Adder. Officially, Black Hole was recognized as its own country, and the defecting Commanding Officers were all allowed pardons for their crimes. Although Adder and Flak hadn't been part of the Omega Land campaign, they'd still, technically, been part of Hawke's command structure, and were viable for the pardons.

Adder gave a complimentary salute to Olaf, which Olaf returned.

"General Olaf, it's good to see you again. I'm afraid Hawke isn't here, but if there's anything you need, I am authorized to speak on Black Hole's behalf until his return," Adder declared. He was as snakelike as ever, but some color had come to his face. He looked more human this way. Olaf waved dismissively.

"That's quite all right, what I need to speak with Hawke on is only between myself and him. That's only part of the reason I'm here anyway, Adder. I'm also here to speak with Lash," Olaf said, and Adder actually stood up strait.

"Lady Lash? Um, yes, of course. I'm assuming it's about Commanders Grit and Colin, then? I'd heard about the attack on the hospital, and rest assured, Black Hole had nothing to do with the presence of our technology there. We have launched our own inquires into-"

"That's quite all right, Adder, I am confident in Black Hole's reformation. I don't think your country had anything to do with it, at least directly," Olaf assured him. Grit and Colin were currently on vacation, though under heavy guard. They were taking no chances that Jameson would strike again. A blue limousine pulled up in front of the plane.

"I'll send a message to Lady Lash, and inform her that you are coming. Just know, she's a little more…Eccentric than usual," Adder stated, and Olaf merely nodded, and then entered the limousine. Lash, more strange than usual?

It was ironic, really. Olaf suffered greatly, personally, at the hands of Black Hole, except for the Omega Land natives. And yet he was one of their strongest advocates now. Times and war.

The limo went through about six security checkpoints as it entered the mansion grounds. Hawke was quite paranoid about his and Lash's security. Despite being staunch allies now, they had still caused more damage than all but the Black Guard. Together, not even Sturm had caused such destruction. And now that they lived under the same roof, that was two targets in the same place that a would-be assassin looking for revenge might exploit.

That said, it was tough enough to withstand a nuclear attack, and had been designed by Blue Moon architects. Function and taste in a single multi-billion dollar facility. Fun times.

Olaf's limo arrived, and he stepped out. A few years ago it would have been more like a roll, but he'd been dieting for the last few years. It was hell on his palette, but it'd been good for his health. A bioroid butler opened the door for him, juxtapositionaly dressed with a butler's jacket with coattails and everything, his head barely visible behind the glass dome.

"Lady Lash will see you now," it announced robotically, and Olaf handed it his coat, which it gleefully took and placed upon the coat rack. He heard familiar light steps, and looked to the staircase, and saw the girl he'd once sworn to kill. She'd gained a little bit of muscle, and seemed more…Womanly now, after the last time Olaf had actually seen her face to face. He'd seen pictures of course.

But the biggest change was the obvious lump in her belly, denoting her fourth month of pregnancy.

"Lady Lash," Olaf greeted, holding back his laughter at the title.

"General Olaf," she stated mockingly, imitating his voice, "I can't say I ever expected you ever wanting to meet with me. After…You know…"

Olaf held up his hand and shook his head.

"Don't even think about it. Black Hole is paying its debts. In fact, that's the reason I'm here," Olaf said, "I don't suppose you've heard about what happened?"

Lash nodded, and finished descending the stairs, and she beckoned.

"Come on, I'll make you some coffee, and we'll talk," she instructed, "I know I could have cooks bring up a feast, but Hawke won't drink any coffee that I haven't made. I've been making it the same way ever since I was his secretary. Life is funny how things work out that way. One moment my duties involve making engineering doodles on napkins and making coffee, and the next I'm invading Blue Moon. Uh…Sorry about that…"

Olaf sighed, and just rolled his eyes, and sat at the small table in the private kitchen. He studied the room, and realized that it was practically a science lab, with vegetables lying dissected, and dishes lying on the counter, obviously having been host to some strange culinary experiment. He was positive that there was some garlic cloves in a beaker next to the sink, behind a Bunsen burner. Lash struggled to retrieve the bag of coffee, and Olaf stood to help, but she waved him down.

"I'm pregnant, not disabled," she insisted, and grabbed the bag and placed it on the counter, regaining her balance. The woman chuckled triumphantly.

"So, let me guess. Officially you're here to announce that little pet project you and Hawke have been working on, but really you're here to ask me to…Build you a superweapon to ensure world peace!"

"Half right," Olaf replied. Lash started preparing the coffee, bringing up a filter to her forehead and humming, as if she were thinking.

"You want me to build you an army of robot spiders to enforce your new world order of peace!" she declared.

"I'll get back to you on that idea," Olaf laughed.

"You want me to turn Colin and Grit into super-CO cyborgs!"

"That's not too far off, actually," Olaf stated after thinking for a moment, "The doctors have told me that Colin and Grit will be able to recover from the shock and blood loss. But their limbs…"

Lash, having put the pot on to warm up, now had a moment to sit down while the brown bean water percolated. She leaned over and pulled out a notebook and pencil, and flipped through it quickly, and landed on a page of what seemed to be designed for a power suit.

"I've got just the thing. Prosthetics are easy. Making new joints that actually work, that give response? That's just fun. This idea was pretty much rejected by Sturm, but I can still use lots of bits and pieces for this sort of thing," Lash explained, "With just four-no, three surgeries, they'll be able to walk and move like new. Um…No, four surgeries. You're going to want them asleep for these operations."

"So you can do it?" Olaf asked, gripping the table, and Lash nodded, nibbling on the eraser.

"I'm a scientist, not a medical doctor. But I could have the joints ready in…Two months. One if Blue Moon is willing to give me extra funds for it," she explained. She thought about what she just said, and went wide-eyed, "For the purposes of the research, of course. I would never-well, not anymore-"

"I hear you, Lash. Price is no object, I want the best for my…" Olaf had a hard time saying it out loud. Lash smirked and leaned in.

"Say eet!"

"For my friends," Olaf grunted, and Lash was tickled hearing the big, mean General Olaf admitting Grit and Colin were his friends. She was now gnawing on the end of the pencil.

"Mkay. I'll do it. I'll need Colin and Grit's measurements, the money, and a little bit of time," Lash told him, and Olaf sighed with relief. Hearing her say it out loud was a world off of his shoulders.

"Buuuut!" she interjected, "You might want to clear this up with them. They might not want one of my inventions in them. This will require some brainwork, too, for them to actually feel the joints. I'll need to be installing chips into their heads. They might not like that."

"I hadn't thought about that…" Olaf admitted, and Lash leaned back, nodding.

"You can't just go making decisions for people. Even if you're the Big Brother of Blue Moon!" she berated, "Why don't you ask now, while the coffee is getting ready? There's something I want to ask you now."

"I-All right, that's fair, Lash," Olaf grumbled, standing up and fumbled for his cell phone. Damnable thing, the buttons were too small. There was a deck that ran outside that Olaf stood on. Even in the spring, this far north, it was still cold enough for him to be wearing warm clothes. It felt nice. He punched in Grit's personal number, and waited for him to pick up. Grit didn't answer, and so Olaf called again. Grit usually took several times to pick up his phone, if he answered at all.

"Howdy," Olaf heard over the phone. Olaf also heard a cat meow grumpily.

"Grit! This is Olaf!"

"I figgered. How're you doin'?"

"I'm fi-Wait, I should be asking you that!"

"I know. I figgered it were proper to ask you first, though."

"Well, don't do that!"

"All right. I'm enjoyin' my break, by the way. Thanks fer askin'."

"Oh. Right. Glad to hear it. Anyway, I have found a solution for your…handicap in your shoulder and in Colin's knee. I wanted to find the best, and I got it."

"You wouldn't be callin' at two in the mornin' if you didn't think it weren't important enough."

Olaf winced. He'd forgotten about the time difference.

"I'm sorry, I forgot. There's a slight catch about the joint. You'd have to let…Lash work on you."

Grit paused.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Ayup."

"Just like that?"

"Yup."

"No fuss, no questions, no protests? I mean, I have her right here, you can ask questions if you'd like?"

"Olaf, you went through the trouble to fly halfway across the world to ask a woman that you got a boiling hatred for to build me a new shoulder. She's on our side now, and if she's willin' to do this fer us, and if you're willin' to trust her, that's enough for me. And don't bother callin' the boy, I'll ask him myself. You have a habit of frightening him with news like this."

"I do not!"

"'Few say so. Now, I gotta git some sleep afore the chickens wake up."

"Oh…Right, well, get some rest, Grit. Enjoy the rest of your break. Lash says that the shoulder will be ready in a month or so."

"All right. Thanks, Olaf. See you when you git back," Grit said, and hung up. Olaf sighed, and held the phone to his forehead. He physically felt his muscles relaxing. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"This really had you worked up, doesn't it? Come on, the coffee's ready. I hope you like it black," Lash said, and Olaf nodded, and followed her in. A pair of mugs were waiting for them, one with coffee and the other was empty.

"The doc says coffee is bad for the baby, so it's herbal tea and boiled eggs for me," Lash snidely muttered. Olaf held the coffee mug in his hand, and spun it slightly. It'd been almost a year since he'd led troops into battle, he'd almost forgotten what it felt like to have the warm coffee in a cold morning.

"You mind me asking you a personal question, Olaf?" Lash asked.

"Depends on the question."

"Do you have any children?"

Olaf paused, thinking.

"I have a son. He doesn't want much to do with me, though, I haven't seen him in years. He, uh, was born in Orange Star. One of those mistakes of youth sort of things," Olaf said.

"Gotcha there. I want to say that I regret all of the things that I've done, but I can't say that and be honest about it. I mean, it's always been about having…_Fun._ Just, nothing matters to me, you know? Doing what I like to do, and to hell with the consequences. It's _infuriating_ to have to look pretty, take care of myself, not blow up the living room. But now I'm thinking about what others think, and how it will affect me…"

"What are you really asking, Lash?"

"Who shot Grit and Colin?"

"I don't think I can give out that information, Lash."

"If it's who I think it is, then I may have done something that will have destroyed my friendship with Sonja, Olaf. What is that man from Star Island? One of the prisoners?"

Olaf paused. It only made sense that Lash knew about the island, she was probably the one who did all the experiments, or at least had a role in them, "Yes. It was Major Jameson. He attacked the hospital, too, using Black Hole weapons."

"I thought so. Olaf, what do you know about Emperor Kanbei's wife?" Lash asked.

"She died in an assassination while meeting with members of my government. The assassin tried framing Blue Moon so that Yellow Comet would attack us. Blue Moon intelligence now thinks it was Jameson who killed her."

"The Empress didn't die from her wounds, Olaf. Empress Kana was alive when I saw her on Star Island. If you can call that being alive, I guess. And if Jameson is gone from Star Island, you can bet that she is, too."

"Lash," Olaf said darkly, "Tell me everything."

((Break))

Lash's long, lanky arms swayed as she walked along the bow of the Black Hole battleship. There were few crewmembers on it, but there didn't need to be many; almost the entire ship was automated. Of course, her design. Almost all of Black hole's forces were entirely automated, with mass-cloned troops doing the thinking behind each unit group. Of course, in some cases, like naval vessels, there still needed to be warm(ish) bodies on board.

The island's defenders could hardly be called such. Every time they attacked, their blows became steadily more powerful, but there just wasn't enough to even justify using the car-sized artillery shells that were being fired at them. It wasn't fair, really. This was hardly a fun battle. Lash watched and giggled as the Black Boats unloaded Black Hole troops, who rushed up the hill because their lives depended on it.

Within just minutes, the front gates were secured. A Black Hole transport copter landed, and dropped off a squad of troops inside, who proceeded to have the gate opened so that the rest of them could pour inside and seize the prison facility. Lash didn't know _why_ Kindle wanted the place, but she wasn't going to ask. Lash was just told that she would have some test subjects to work with now, and that's all that Lash cared about, really. New guinea pigs for her new toys.

Soon, Black Hole banners waved over the prison facility, and Lash had a boat take her to the shores. She defied the advice for her to sit down, and dramatically placed her foot at the raised bow of the small vessel. If there was someone with a camera around, it would have been _so_ cool to see on film, with her trenchcoat flapping in the wind like that! Of course, when she almost fell into the water, she remembered Hawke's speeches to her about not taking risks, and being careful, and being quick with his coffee. Picky Hawke.

((Break))

Suddenly, there was a pounding on the door, and a red light flashed. Lash scowled, twisted her chair around, and took a handgun out of a cabinet, then pounded twice on the wall. A color television flipped around-Oalf wouldn't have spotted it if he didn't see it move-and it revealed the security cameras watching outside.

"Those are Yellow Comet troops!" Olaf observed. Indeed, a squad of Yellow Comet soldiers were standing outside the mansion, backed up by a group of Recon units. Olaf didn't even hear gunfire…

"That's Sonja," Lash whimpered, "Olaf, she knows…She's going to try to kill me!"

"I'll handle this," Olaf promised, taking the pistol from Lash, "If she doesn't have a _damn_ good explanation, this could very well lead to war. She knows that."

Olaf walked to the door, and looked at the Bioroid butler, who was still standing there.

"Can you fight?" Olaf asked. The Bioroid bowed twice, the closest thing it could make to a nod. It produced a machine gun from its coattails. God, these things were creepy. Olaf walked to the door, and hit the button to the speaker. TO his surprise, a camera, a monitor, and microphone rolled out of the wall. It showed Sonja clearly.

"You do realize that this is technically an act of war against both Blue Moon _and_ Black Hole, right?" Olaf asked her. The princess just glared at Olaf through the camera.

"Lash has committed a specific crime that is not covered by the terms of her pardon. By rights, Yellow Comet has the authority to apprehend and try her," Sonja declared.

"And you have committed an act of war by attacking a place of diplomacy conducted by Blue Moon, and received and hosted by Black Hole. By rights, I should be ordering the Imperial Palace burned to the ground by now."

"My father does not know I am here. You would be the aggressor."

"Oh ho ho! So you've gone rogue! In that case, I could have you arrested, tried, and put away for a very long time, and there wouldn't be a thing your father could do about it. A good deal of leverage against Yellow Comet in negotiating labor disputes in the construction efforts, I should think!"

"By refusing to-"

"Shut up," Olaf snapped, "You're not nearly as smart as I first pegged you for if you think that this is the way to get what you want, princess or not."

"Didn't stop you from trying to annex Orange Star, even when it was already occupied," Sonja taunted.

"And look how well that turned out! I was nearly disgraced and put into the gulag prisons I, myself, commissioned! Put away your weapons, come inside, alone, and we'll talk this over. We'll say that the Black Hole troops overreacted to the high military presence of your personal bodyguards. Otherwise, Lash gets the whole mansion locked up, and I order the Blue Moon occupation forces to rush the Yellow Comet sector. You risk sparking the next major war with your next response, Princess."

Sonja was silent for several long seconds, until she signaled for her troops to stand down. Olaf had the door open. The Bioroid stood behind Olaf, brandishing his machine gun. Olaf made sure his sidearm was visible to the soldiers, who did not protest as Sonja walked inside, and the door locked behind her. Lash peaked her head out from the next door, with only her eyes, nose, and hair visible, parallel to the floor.

"HiSonjagoodtoseeyouhow'veyoubeenpleasedon'tkillme," Lash chattered.

"She was just telling me about what happened on Star Island. I can only assume that's why you're here. Before jumping to conclusions, why don't you sit with us, and listen to her side of the story?"

"You certainly have learned patience, General, and you have shown your true guile in recent months," the princess observed, "Once, you were so keen to act first and let others work out the results."

"Times change," Olaf responded, leading Sonja into the private kitchen, with Lash skirting just in front of them, "Would you like some coffee?"

"Very much so, thank you," Sonja politely said, and Lash quickly poured her a mug.

"It's not poisoned, I promise," Lash insisted. Sonja made no reply. Lash tapped her fingernails against her tea mug nervously as Sonja sipped the coffee, as if nothing were wrong, as if this were some congenial social visit.

"So I'd just taken Star Island. I didn't know who was there, just that I could experiment on the prisoners…"

[Yeah, so this chapter was originally almost 8,000 words. So I cut it in two. The plot thickens!]


	6. Not All Malice is Poison

_Not All Malice is Poison_

Lash walked alongside a line of the prison's guards and officers. There was one man in particular wearing a flamboyant yellow cloak and a matching straw hat, with a sash of machine gun ammunition and a sword, though only his scabbard since his sword had been confiscated. Obviously, he was a Yellow Comet national.

"Stand up," Lash instructed, "What is your name?"

"I am Ronin. I am the commander of the guard. These men are my responsibility, and the failure here is mine to burden. If you do anything, do it to me, but let my men go!" the man declared.

"This is an Orange Star facility, why is a Yellow Comet dude commanding the guard?" Lash asked.

"As I said, I am Ronin. I am bound by my shame and my failure to bear the burden of my stripped duties. Orange Star offered me a place to serve somehow, and I have once again, failed."

"Boy, sucks to be you. How many times have you screwed up?"

"Too many. Please, if there is any shred of honor in you, let my men go!"

"Neh. Too much work. You can stay here and make yourselves useful."

"You would allow us to return to our posts?"

"And risk you getting a message out? No way! Naw, we'll just use you as lab rats. You all look pretty healthy, we can use you as a control group! Yeah! Think of it this way, you're not wasting your lives protecting a bunch of crazy psychopaths! You're using your lives for SCIENCE! Doesn't that sound fun?" Lash asked, and Ronin went to his knees again. He turned to his men, hanging his head.

"I am sorry. I will get you out of this safely, if I die trying."

"Good! You get to go first!" Lash declared, grabbing Ronin by the collar, "I made a new engine for our tanks, I want to see how fast it goes, and I need to compare it to the running speed of a human. Let's see if you break the record for how much blood you squirt all over the field!"

((Break))

"Obviously, Major Mayaa is much quicker than you think," Sonja chuckled.

"Is that his name? He never said anything, just kept calling himself Ramen or whatever. Yeah, he was able to give the tank the slip, so we just tossed him in a cell and pumped him full of psychedelics to see how he would react. If he's still around, he must be made of sterner stuff, because all those drugs should have killed him."

((Break))

Lash, having made her little display to the old guards, had a similar lineup of the prisoners. Several of them were physically chained to the wall after they killed several Bioroids. One of them was just sitting against the wall, pumping furiously at his crotch. Lash just put a bullet in him. She came up to one particular prisoner, who was unchained. He had a long, brown beard and a crazy look in his eye. Parts of his face looked burned.

"What's your name?" Lash asked. All the prisoners had tags, but she didn't bother reading them.

"Christopher Cobbler, professional mumbler, sittin' an' eatin' his gruel. When you go wavin' the flag, don't be a fag, douse it all in fuel!" the man shouted. Lash raised her eyebrows, then turned to the administrative Bioroid, and instructed,

"I want you to write down everything this one says. I think I like him."

She moved onto the next one. This man had an even longer beard, but bore a vacant stare. There was something in his breathing, though, that told Lash that there was something trying to get out. She waved her hand in front of his face, and his eyes followed. His medication could be wearing off.

"This one goes off the pills for a while," she said, and walked down the line. Boring. Uninteresting. Lame. Piss-pants.

"Doctor Stevenson…" Lash gasped, and took a step back, "Put this man back in his cell. No experiments on him, but take pictures of everything he does! Record everything! That's an immediate order!"

((Break))

"_The_ Doctor Stevenson?" Sonja asked.

"The one and only."

"I had no idea that's where he was…I'd just assumed that he went into seclusion…" Olaf muttered, "Did you ever meet him before then, Lash?"

"Sure did. He taught me everything I know about missiles, rockets, planes, that sort of thing. He developed the Short Range Combat Missiles the Allies are so fond of, and developed the modern air-to-air and surface-to-air missile. It's only natural that I used his concepts to make the Planet Buster missiles," Lash bragged, and then realized what she'd just said. She coughed.

"I guess that's why he went crazy, I suppose. Well, anyway, I knew Stevenson was more valuable as he was than as a guinea pig, so I just moved on."

((Break))

The rest of the prisoners were just soldiers gone badly from the Allies. She decided that some of them could be used for Black Hole, but not until after a few games. She decided to go once more around the cell block, and one in particular caught her interest: A cell that wasn't like the rest. It was hermetically sealed and the door was much thicker than the others.

((Break))

"Oh, no…" Sonja muttered.

((Break))

Lash was juuust too short to see standing on her feet, so she stood on her tiptoes to look into the room, and couldn't believe what she saw. _Empress Kana of Yellow Comet!_ Lash had heard she'd died! Of course, she was much older-looking, frail and with long, gray hair, and attached to all sorts of machines. She didn't look like she was truly _alive._ Just kept breathing, really. She thought of all the possibilities, and realized that everything she could do with Kana would just end with another Jugger. Bo-ring. Still, Kindle would want to hear about this, so she moved on to start making her reports. Stupid papers.

Lash went about, organizing and formalizing the defenses for the island. Once any enemy force tried taking the island, the only thing Lash could really do was set up naval and air forces. The only thing ground troops could do was protecting the Anti-Air and Missile units that protected the APC's from getting blown up. Lash had many more naval units to protect the island than that Ronin did. All things considered, he didn't do a bad job. He didn't have much to work with, though, with all the real troops off fighting the war.

Lash was having her laboratories set up when she saw a _special_ transport copter land. Oh, joy. Kindle. Her _favorite_ person. She told the Bioroids to look snappy and look busy at the same time, so they just kept doing what they were doing. Sure enough, Kindle came in, tailed by some weirdo in a labcoat.

"Lash. I see you've settled in well," Kidnle observed.

"Yuppers! Everything's under control! No need to inspect anything," she insisted.

"I'm sure. I read your report. About Doctor Stevenson and Empress Kana? This is Doctor…Buffertongue?"

"Befürchtung," the man spat.

"Yes. Well, the presence of Empress Kana and Doctor Stevenson are of great interest to Black Hole. What is the Empress's status as of right now?" Kindle asked.

"She's still stable. I haven't had anything moved or modified. I didn't think I could do anything interesting with her," Lash admitted.

"Zen yhou are a small-minded _heimloser!_" Befürchtung barked, "Yhou obviously do not have an appweciation for the subtleties of the human bhrain! I vill get zees done, Frau Kindle, without zee assistance of zis girl!"

"Oh really? Have you ever _built_ a brain before? I have. It's not easy! Particularly one that works!" Lash retorted.

"Which is why!" Kindle interrupted, "I want you two to work together. I don't want her to be a robot, Lash, which is why Doctor Biffertang-"

"Befürchtung."

"-will assist you. _Together_ you will bring Kana back, but under our control, hear? I don't want a clone, I don't want a machine. I want Empress Kana, in a way that we can influence her, okay?"

Lash harrumphed.

"I vill need healthy bhrain scans of ze patient if zees ees to vork," Befürchtung said.

"Consider it done, doctor. Lash, is there anything you need?"

"Silicon, blood plasma, copper, and a grape soda."

"Just…Put in requests as you need things, then. Have fun you two!" Kindle told them leaving Lash with the odd doctor. Lash looked at him, and made an ingenuine smile. He wore an obviously fake black toupee, and had gray hair along the side of his head. A thick forehead seemed to be held up from hanging over his eyes by a pair of tinted spectacles. The left lens had a magnifying glass that could be slid up and down. He was hunched over, leaning on a cane to stay upright.

"You heard her. _You_ are assisting _me,_" Lash told him, "Which means you have to do what I say, Bubbletoe. This is _my_ facility, _my_ experiments. You hear me?"

"Dah, dah, no need to shout! I am here for ze unique opportunity to vork on ze human bhrain in vays never thought of before. Yhou may be charge, but I vill _not_ let yhou get in my vay, girl!" Befürchtung told her, and he hobbled away. She smiled. She liked him! Reminded her of…Her!

((Break))

Through thick and thin, Lash returned off and on to work on various experiments on the island. Befürchtung remained almost totally dedicated to his experiments. Lash had to leave on more than one occasion to oversee the deployment of different weapons, such as the Black Crystal, the Fying Fortress, and the Black Bombs, but her main experiments remained here, on Star Island, in which she attempted to create new enhancements of Black Hole Bioroids by trying them out on the prisoners. Lash had decided that Super Weapons might not be the way to cause the damage Black Hole needed.

Still, the experiments on Empress Kana were going extraordinarily well, mostly because the science and technology they were playing with were already there. A cybernetic brain was easy. Making cybernetic brain _parts_ that wasn't controlled almost entirely by programming? That was a challenge. But Befürchtung knew what he was doing.

"I vould be lying eef I didn't admit zat yhou haff impressed me, girl," the doctor admitted while Lash was creating the bio-interaction positronic circuitry, "I never thought zat someone of yhour age and personality could be so…Brilliant!"

Lash absorbed the praise like a sponge.

"Well, yeah, what did you think? I'm Lash, I'm the greatest," she giggled, "So what's your concept here? All I've been doing is building the brain. What have you been doing?"

"I haff been balancing ze patient's bhrain chemicals, and testing her immune system. Ze bhrain is a veeeery delicate orghan. But that is only ze tip of the iceberg! Using the bhrain scans, I haff been able to successfully map ze patience's bhrain as it had been, and have mapped it as ees. Vith ze two bhrain scans, we can properly insert the positronic bhrain parts to replace the damage as close as possible to the original Empress Kana. Ve cannot control her actions directly, but ve _can _give her commands to follow, and affect her emotional state. Anything more, and ve risk destroying the parts of Kana that make her Kana."

"That's gonna be tricky. We'd need short range to give such specific commands to the input devices I have made."

"So ve vould need a spy alvays at her side," Befürchtung guessed.

"Not necessarily. We can install a receiver into her body, which can take signals from our satellites, which then gives signals to the short range as if someone were wiring commands into her," Lash explained. She hadn't realized it at the time, but it felt good to be working alongside someone of…Well, comparable genius, anyway.

Lash refused command several times over the next few weeks, focusing almost entirely on the brain project. It was nearing completion, and the only time Lash really took a break was to talk to Hawke as he faced the Allies for the first time. By that point, the only thing they had left to do was actually install the cybernetic parts. They'd tested and experimented all they could; there was nothing more they could do to improve the brain.

Befürchtung insisted on doing the operation himself, declaring that Lash wasn't suited for the delicate surgery of human anatomy, that it was far different than working with circuit boards. Lash didn't care. It was probably too wet and squishy as it was. She decided to go check on some of the prisoners while Befürchtung performing the surgery.

Lash decided to go see Dr. Stevenson. She hadn't seen him in a while. As she walked past, there were hoots and hollers and cat-calls at her, so she pressed a button she always kept on her, and there was a communal group of screams at the shock devices incapacitated them all. They should have learned by now. She passed Captain Cobbler's cell.

"Damn, lass, why'd you have to go and do that?" he grumbled. She smiled at him.

"Do what? Do this?" she asked, and pressed the button again.

"AUGH!" the man dropped like a sack of potatoes, and writhed on the floor. The whole prison was filled with screams, and she giggled manically.

"You know, I've seen some of the things you've been doin' to the prisoners," Cobbler gasped, "And I've heard about who you all are. Invaders, tryin' ta take over the world. I could help, you know. I was Green Earth for sev'ral years. I could help out. I know everything there is ta know about usin' napalm and fire in war. Leaves everythin' niiice and crispy!"

"And totally unusable for seasons," Lash heard someone declare from the cell next to Cobbler.

"I dunno, this guy sounds like fun to me," Lash objected, "What's the catch?"

"I just want Green earth, and the chance to raze Yellow Comet to the ground, is all," Cobbler stated.

"I'll talk to Hawke, I guess. How do I know that this isn't some trick?"

"Because he's a single-minded psychopath," the man in the next cell declared.

"Quiet you!" Lash growled, and mashed the button, causing everyone in the prison to scream, including Cobbler, "I'll talk to Hawke about it. You're all just guinea pigs to me."

"Right. Thanks for the offer," Cobbler coughed. Lash walked past the man in the cell next to Cobbler's. It was the man who'd followed her hand wave when she first arrived on the island. They must not have been getting their pills. Oh, well. This guy wasn't writing on the ground, though. He was just sitting there, Indian style, with his eyes closed. Lash squinted.

"You've been trying to resist the shocks, haven't you?" she asked, and she mashed the button. The man's arm shot out, and he grabbed his bed. Lash gasped, ignoring the screams of the other prisoners.

"You're clever!" she giggled.

"I've done this before," he replied. Lash chattered her teeth.

"What's your name?"

"Major Kyle Jameson, formerly Orange Star Special Forces," he announced, and he stood, as if he hadn't just been shocked four times in a row.

"God damn, I think my flesh is starting to cook…" Cobbler moaned. Jameson approached the bars, and Lash held up the shock button threateningly.

"May I ask a favor of our warden? I just want a pair of scissors to cut my hair," he asked, and Lash raised her eyebrow.

"I would agree with the sentiment if I weren't in such bloody pain…" Cobbler whining again.

"I'll talk to the guards," Lash promised, "You look like a bear."

Lash walked away without allowing Jameson the chance to respond, and walked up to Dr. Stevenson's cell. Lash had allowed him a chalkboard and some chalk, and never installed a shocker. The blackboard was now filled with equations, and papers littered the floor. Lash entered the cell; it was unlocked, so she didn't even need to use her master cell key.

"Doctor Stevenson?" she called. The man didn't answer, he just kept tapping away with the chalk. She looked to the corner, and saw that there was a plate of moldy food. Lash looked through the papers, and realized that she didn't understand half of what she was looking for. It was obviously _not_ gibberish, though. Stevenson knew what he was drawing. Lash walked over, and lifted his shirt; Stevenson hadn't eaten in days.

"GUARD!" she screamed, and a Bioroid scuttled right up to the cell, and fumbled with the keys.

"This prisoner hasn't been eating."

"He refused to eat, so we stopped serving," the Bioroid said, "Your own orders!"

"Well, this one is an exception. Get him some food, before I decide to cook and serve you!"

"Yes, ma'am!" he yelped, and he scuttled away.

"And get me some food, too!" she yelled at him, and turned her attention to Stevenson. This man had been her mentor, and one of the few to see past her eccentric personality. He was the only person ever to make her feel…Vulnerable, except for maybe that Olaf when he destroyed her factory. [Olaf couldn't help but smile when she mentioned this.] He saw through her childish demeanor, and focused almost entirely on her intellect. There was no hiding anything from Stevenson. By rights, Lash should hate him. She should have him destroyed.

Instead, she was organizing his notes and equations. As she delved deeper and earlier into his notes, Lash started to realize what it was that she was looking at. Stevenson was creating an intricate theory about space travel. A good number of the ideas were using technology that was used in the creation of the Black Crystal and the Black Obelisk. None of this could be applied, of course, without experimentation.

The guard arrived with the food, and Lash seized Stevenson's chalk.

"Food!" she instructed. Stevenson reached for his chalk, "No, food!"

Stevenson paused, and looked down at the young woman, then to the plates. He comprehended. That was good. The man sat on his bed and seized his plate and spork, and began eating carefully and slowly. Stevenson was always methodical and precise about everything. Lash sat down beside him, and gobbled up her food, but when she was finished, Stevenson wasn't even halfway through his food. Lash could only stare at him.

"Are you even in there?" Lash asked, poking him in the head. Stevenson didn't react, "Why are you in here? Why aren't you actually making these things, professor?"

Stevenson paused, and looked at Lash. Lash thought he was going to say something, but he just returned to his meal. Lash sighed defiantly, and went back to organizing Stevenson's notes. She couldn't allow Kindle to see this. This was science, real science, for the sake of science. Not weapons application, not civil engineering. Just concept and equations. Lash barely understood the sentiment herself, but the idea of Black Hole building war spaceships…It didn't sit well with her for some reason. She didn't know if Sturm or Jugger were even human originally, but it didn't seem...right. Not morally or ethically right, but more like unfair, giving the likes of them access to such technology.

Lash didn't even realize how much time had passed. After Stevenson finished eating, they went back to work, until eventually Lash fell asleep in the cell. The next thing she knew, she heard Hawke talking. Dr. Stevenson was asleep on his cot in a mess of papers, his hand covered in chalk. Lash didn't open the cell, but she kept her ear out to listen to what Hawke was saying.

((Break))

"What does this have to do with you restoring my mother's brain?" Sonja asked. Lash bit her lip.

"A little bit of everything. The surgery took _hours_, I didn't even realize that Befoorchtung had stopped overseeing the surgery and went to sleep, and had other surgeons keep going. It was a seventeen hour surgery. So I had time to kill, and this is what happened. I didn't know what was going to happen next."

((Break))

"Hey! Hey! You must be Hawke!" Cobbler whispered loudly. Hawke didn't respond.

"I'm not going to ask this again. Are you or are you not Major Kyle Jameson?" Hawke hissed.

"I am."

"Good. My name is Hawke, of Black Hole. I am Lash's superior. If you are willing to lend me your ear, I have a proposal for you," Hawke said.

"So you're the one who's behind the Black Hole Army?" Jameson asked.

"No. I was, but I conceded its control to someone else. It was a foolish idea, I had no idea what I was getting into. Major Jameson, your country is in great danger, as is mine."

"From what I gather, my country is in danger _from yours,_" Jameson replied.

"Hey, what about me? I don't care about my country, come on! I'll help!" Cobbler insisted. Again, Hawke ignored him.

"Somehow, this Bolt Guard is draining the life of the planet. What use is conquering a dead planet? I can get you resources to save this planet. Soldiers, equipment, intelligence. I can even gt you recomissioned back into Orange Star."

"By betraying my country to Black Hole? To be under your thumb? Follow your orders? I might as well defect."

"It's true that we would deal with the immediate problem, Jameson, but after that, whatever you do is none of my concern. I merely want Von Bolt stopped. You could return to Orange Star, and begin preparing a resistance, in case the Allied Nations alliance fails. Or return to active duty. All I know is that you are an incredibly talented man, and your knack for command would be perfect for saving this planet. The only string is that you help me fight this Von Bolt."

"What about me? Come on, I'll fight fight you! Capt'n Cobbler at your service, Hawke!"

"Cobbler?" Hawke asked, "The torcher of Manisha?"

"The one and only! Come on, you say that sumin's destroyin' the planet? That's no good, see, because sand doesn't burn! You can torch a forest, but it'll grow back! I'm with you on this one!"

"By his own boasts, Cobbler is an expert in the military applications of incendiary weaponry," Jameson told Hawke.

"I'm not here for Cobbler," Hawke said, "I'm here for you. My offer stands. What do you say? Know that Sturm once wanted to recruit you. But he couldn't find you. You do your country no good by sitting in this prison. I could have Lash install that new mind control device as an alternative…"

"Your threats will get you nowhere, Hawke. You're right, though. I do Orange Star no good here. I will join you, Hawke," Jameson said.

"Yeah, and me! Come on, I'll help!" Cobbler wasn't even bothering whispering.

"I suppose you should consider bringing my counterpart here. If he's anywhere near as talented as he claims, he could be a potent ally, or a dangerous enemy. And given that he has a name such as the Torcher of Manisha, I can only guess that this may be true," Jameson added.

"I was going to take him anyway," Hawke stated, "I'll have Lash transfer you two out of here once the moment is right."

Hawke left, and silence swept through the prison.

"Hey, friend, thanks for that. I know I've been a bit of a bugger, but you're all right," Cobbler admitted.

"Think nothing of it. You should get some sleep before you say something that will invoke Lash's wrath."

"What, is she recordin' our conversions or sumfin?"

"No, she's in Doctor Stevenson's cell, eavesdropping on us."

"Oh…Uh…Why didn't you tell Hawke?"

"It's not my place to interfere on their relationship, professional or otherwise. If Hawke isn't telling Lash everything, then getting involved will only get us injured. If Lash and Hawke are communicating their respective concerns, then there aren't any problems, so it's not worth mentioning."

"I guess that makes sense, but doesn't that sort of sour relations with Hawke? Makes him not trust us?"

"Cobbler, I can tell you now, Hawke and I do not trust one another. And neither of us trust you, and you are a fool to think that the situation might be otherwise."

"Hey, I didn't say I trust either of ya. He's a mercenary and you're an Orange-'ead. Fanatical one, too. Killin' your own people just to pin it on Blue Moon? At least I got principles."

"Shut up and go to sleep, Cobbler."

There wasn't another peep from them, and Lash wasn't sure what to think. She knew that Hawke didn't like Kindle and the Bolt Guard, she didn't either, but this…Who was Von Bolt? What was going on?

((Break))

"Shortly after that, the surgery on Empress Kana was a success. Befürchtung kept doing drills with her, memory and emotional ones, to see if she was working, but the Bolt Guard needed me more and more. So I didn't see her, like, at all after that. I saw her in one piece once, taking a stroll with the doctor, they seemed to be getting really close. Before I had the chance to stay for more than a couple of days, Hawke and I defected.

"Star Island was covered in Oozium two days later, but the Doctor contacted me a few days ago. He says that he's alive, with the Empress. He didn't say where, but he was hoping to get a job in Black Hole, and that Major Jameson had helped them all escape. The Doctor didn't stay with them, though."

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Sonja asked. Lash shrugged.

"I assumed that the whole island was destroyed and wiped of life by Oozium. I went back, you know. There was nothing but equipment. Not even skeletons or blades of grass. Just nothing. In Kana's cell I found some silicon and copper. I thought the Ooziums had gotten her, and left the inorganic pieces of her brain," Lash explained, "I thought it would be better if you kept thinking she was dead. I never told Kanbei, either. I didn't want to give him false hope. Sonja, I am sorry."

Olaf brought his mug up to his lips, and realized that he was empty. He set the mug back on the table.

"That's quite the story, Lash. I'm glad you came forward with this. Now we have two criminals to chase down. We should contact Green Earth. And I need to talk to Hawke," Olaf said, growling at the mention of Hawke. Olaf had been working closely with Hawke, but that he was keeping such a secret!

"I know. Please, Hawke was just trying to prepare for the worst. He would _never_ have condoned the attempt on Grit and Colin, or the attack on the hospital. I never really talked with Jameson, but once I found out who he was, I learned what he'd done."

Olaf nodded.

"I know. But still, Hawke has to be up to something, and we have a right to know what it is," Olaf told her. Lash nodded.

"I will tell the soldiers that there has been a mistake," Sonja told Lash, who just nodded. Once Sonja had stepped out, Lash visibly relaxed.

"I'm exhausted, and all I've done all day is make coffee and talk," Lash said, studying her tea mug.

"Not an hour ago, your closest friend was about to make an attempt on your life. I think I would be tired, too," Olaf mused, "It could be worse. It could be raining."

Lash stared.

"It would be _raining meteors!_" she added.

"Raining plasma-filled meteors," Olaf retorted.

"With evil flowers!"

By the time Sonja had returned, Olaf and Lash were laughing their heads off.

"_What_ is so funny?" she demanded, and Lash snickered.

"Evil flowers?" Lash guess, and Sonja just raised her eyebrow.

"Well, as much as I'd hate to spoil your fun, but we should think about how we're going to do about this situation. If unchecked, Jameson and Cobbler could do a lot of damage very quickly, and if they get their hands on my mother…"

"We'll get through it," Olaf promised, "But maybe we should let Lash rest. It's been a long day for all of us."

"I dunno, now I'm feeling kinda energetic," Lash admitted, "Does anyone else wanna blow something up?"

"Excuse me?" Sonja was caught off-guard by that one..

"Well, I have a weapons testing field in our backyard. We could blow some stuff up to relax. What do you say?" Lash asked. Olaf shrugged.

"I could use a good stress reliever," he admitted, "I figured out a new tactic during the attack on the hospital."

Sonja sighed, and nodded.

[For the record, I liked Days of Ruin. But it was too easy to poke fun at it. On that note, almost 9,000 words between this and the previous chapter.

The next one will have ACTION! and the last of the new Allied CO's. He's the Blue Moon CO, known as The Gamer.]


	7. Not All Rules are Absolute

_Not All Rules are Absolute_

"Two years ago, on this day, the first Allied forces landed here, and moved north. Our nations had truly banded together for the first time in Wars World's long and bloody history. Where the first war had us working together as allies of convenience, the second brought us together as friends. The third war cemented those bonds as we drove the last of Black Hole's dictators from our world, and we embraced those who sought redemption," Olaf began his speech. Sonja and Lash stood to his left and right.

"The end of the Third War saw the formal dissolution of the Allied Nations. But the fight has not stopped. Those who are working diligently to produce materials, grow food, and rebuild our countries continue the battles. One day, we will rebuild, but we will always remember.

"The recent attempt on the lives of my fellow CO's of Blue Moon reflects not the world we have fought to create in the second and third, but how the first started: Nationalism, hatred, greed. These are qualities that we no longer holding ourselves to. Though our wars never change, our times do. And we must be prepared for those new times.

"Although my companion in this idea is not present, none other than Hawke of Black Hole, I am still prepared to announce the formation of the Assembled Allies, an international assembly of the nations of Wars World, dedicated to the preservation of peace and common security among all people. All nations are invited, and Blue Moon is announcing its membership here and now. It is time to learn from the mistakes of the past, embrace the present, and prepare for the future.

"One month from today, I ask for the leaders of our nations to meet here, on Black Hole soil, a place where we all have something in common. I now turn the podium over to Princess Sonja of Yellow Comet, for a few words."

Olaf stepped down, and Sonja stood, and they bowed to one another. Olaf offered his hand, and she shook it. Olaf started to sit when someone came up to Olaf and tapped on his shoulder.

"Sir, there's a situation," the man said, and Olaf turned to Sonja, frowning. She motioned for Olaf to go on, and the General exited stage right. He heard her apologize on his behalf, and Olaf was handed a satellite phone.

"Olaf, we have a situation," it was the Premier, "It's about Sasha."

"Don't tell me there was another attack!"

"Well…It's an attack of a different sort. There are some…Disconcerting pictures regarding her personal life. This could be more serious than we might first think it is, Olaf, particularly after the attacks. You're not exactly Orange Star's most popular person."

"What are you talking about, Karl?" Oalf grumbled, "What does Sasha's personal life have to do with my approval rating in Orange Star?"

"While you turned over command to Sasha in your absence, she had a visitor. Jake, of Orange Star. Last night, she and Jake went out to a nightclub during a downtime."

"Oh, no…"

"There was a photographer following them. The photos were published this morning in an Orange Star tabloid, but we were able to block them here in Blue Moon. We're concerned that it might spread throughout the internet. There's a lot of anti-Blue Moon sentiment still in Orange Star, Olaf…This could go very badly."

"Karl, I just announced the Assembled Allies!" Olaf growled. The Premier sighed audibly.

"All right, we can spin this as premature celebration. They knew, didn't tell anyone, and went out to celebrate lasting peace or something like that. Should I call General Nell of Orange Star?"

"That sounds like a good idea. Keep me posted. Thanks, Karl," Olaf hung up. Olaf didn't think much about the position of the Premier, but Premier Karl was a good man, one who knew what he was doing. It was largely his job to make sure that Blue Moon always looked like the good guy, to keep the liberals shut up and the hardliners in their stables. The man was also one of the people who spoke against Olaf's invasion of Orange Star in the first war, which was probably why Olaf 'endorsed' him in between; Olaf wanted someone that had the balls to stand up to him. With that settled, Olaf returned to the speeches, where _Lash_ was giving a speech. Who would have thought…

((Break))

Sasha wasn't even aware of the controversy the next morning; all she was focused on was conducting the proper security details. Blue Moon was at a Code Orange for Terrorist attacks, and she was the ranking CO in Blue Moon. There were other officers in the field, but while Olaf was away, the country was in her hands. Although she'd let loose the previous night, she didn't allow that to hamper her duties.

"Ma'am!" an Intelligence Captain snapped to attention, and she waved him to ease, "We have received reports from Stroll Valley. Captain Salvatore and his unit have encountered probable Black Hole vehicles and likely Orange Star terrorists."

"Captain, they will not be referred to as Orange Star terrorists. Orange Star is our ally. The person we are fighting is a rogue, a terrorist. They are to be referred to as rogues, and _not _affiliated with our ally, am I understood?"

"Ma'am! Yes, Ma'am! Captain Salvatore is awaiting orders on how to engage."

Sasha paused for a minute. In an ideal situation, she would send reinforcements and a CO, but Colin was the only CO that was below her in rank, and he was unavailable, but she couldn't go alone. Stroll Valley was important not because of its strategic value, but because of what it contained: Destroyed Black Cannons. If Jameson wanted something from there, then it meant that he was looking to upgrade his existing technology. They couldn't allow him access to that sort of weaponry.

"Send an extra Company to assist Captain Salvatore, and leave the operation in his hands. Tell him that I want the Black Cannon positions secured, but that Jameson's forces are not to capture the local headquarters."

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" the Captain spat.

"And Captain, I ordered you at ease. Calm down, I'm not going to tear your eyes out," she remarked.

"Uh…Of course. Sorry, ma'am-Uh-"

"Go…" she instructed, and he scampered off. She entered her office to go through the paperwork. Grit always told her how Olaf always managed to cause his paperwork to disappear without actually looking at it by handing it to his administrative subordinates, but Sasha preferred to keep a personal eye out in cases like these. It was mostly funds allocations and intelligence operations. She clicked into her email, nibbling on a crumpet. At first she didn't even look at her screen, but something caught her eye.

**Command Authorization Requested in Stroll Valley**

The Captain in charge wouldn't have bothered sending an email. This was off, so she decided to click it.

**Commander Sasha-**

**This may seem to be an odd request, but I am requesting to be given command of the forces patrolling Stroll Valley. I have reliable intelligence that the terrorist known as Major Kyle Jameson is not working alone. If given command, I am confident that I would be able to not only repel the forces attempting to salvage Black Hole armor technologies, but acquire valuable intelligence leading to his associates and their common motives.**

**As you may or not be aware, Major Jameson has a close association with two other war criminals after their common incarceration on Star Island: Captain Christopher Cobbler of Green Earth, and Dr. Herman Befurchtung, the latter of whom was a Black Hole scientist in the second and third war. Their location is currently unknown, as is their affiliation in this plot, but it can be assumed that they are playing a major role in the conflict that we have yet to see.**

**I understand that my position is unusual; I am neither Blue Moon intelligence nor military. However, I assure you that I am more than qualified for command, and my loyalty lies with my country. With Commanders Colin and Grit incapacitated and General Olaf out of the country, you and Blue Moon's command structure is shorthanded at the moment. Captain Salvatore is an excellent field officer, but he lacks the proper intellectual initiative needed for such a delicate command against such a dangerous and innovative mind such as Major Jameson.**

**I eagerly await your reply.**

**Sincerely,**

**The Great Gamer**

The Great Gamer? Sasha had heard about him. He was some big professional video game player who hid his identity. It was some big mystery or something. Sasha, herself, had actually invested in sponsoring him because of his success in competitive gaming. The Gamer was talented, but ready for command? She didn't even know his identity And how had he gotten her military e-mail address?

**Mr. Gamer-**

**This certainly is an odd situation for the both of us. I can only assume that you wish the best, but it deeply concerns me that you were able to overcome our security measures. As your identity is not known to the public, or to the military, I cannot give you the benefit of the doubt, nor can I have absolute confidence in your ability to handle the situation in Stroll Valley; how you acquired this information, as well, is another mystery, and only lays doubt upon you intentions and your methods.**

**Sincerely,**

**Commander Sasha**

She worried that replying might give him legitimacy, but she was curious as to how she would respond. She read through a handful more emails before she received a reply.

**Commander Sasha-**

**I understand your predictament, and I can show you my dedication to Blue Moon. The following links are reports from Blue Moon intelligence that shows my activities during the Second and Third Black Hole Wars, in which myself and a community of hackers actively fought Black Hole's attempts to seize control of the world's telecommunications networks. As for how I was able to get your e-mail and the military reports, many of those same hackers that rallied behind my online activities now work for Blue Moon intelligence and cyberwarfare. For their safety and security, their identities, as will mine, will remain confidential, unless they so wish to come forward.**

**Link**

**Link**

**Link**

**Link**

**Link**

**As you can see, I have played my part in the wars. My loyalty is with Blue Moon, I assure you, and you, yourself have confidence in my ability to at least game. I understand that real-world conflict is much different, but it is simple competition-allocation and use of resources. The difference is, those resources are people. I understand the risks here, Commander. Tell Captain Salvatore that I am a specialist to ease his mind. I am ready, and I am willing; it is a risk to appoint me, and it is a risk to leave the operation in the Captain's hands. I will respect your decision either way.**

**Also, you should read the latest edition of the Shooting Star. It has a disturbing development that you may wish to address as soon as possible.**

**Sincerely,**

**The Great Gamer**

Sasha clicked the links, and skimmed the reports. These were authentic! During the last two wars, large online civilian and military personnel worked together to protect the internet from Black Hole. Many of the antivirus and firewall programs that are used today were developed in this literal 'online war' between the citizens and the soldiers-and the Great Gamer was at the head of this movement. His loyalty was not in question here. But could he command?

**Mr. Gamer-**

**This is, indeed, a great gamble. But gambling is also a game, and you specialize in games. I will trust you with this task, though with the highest level of deniability. Should you fail, then you never contacted me. You were never there. I will pass on a message to Captain Salvatore, informing him of your arrival.**

**Please ensure that these emails cannot be leaked.**

**Thank you.**

**Commander Sasha**

Sasha was satisfied. The Gamer simply sent a thank you in reply, and Sasha called the intel officer.

"Inform Captain Salvatore that a specialist will be taking command of his unit and the reinforcements. Tell him that it will seem odd, but to trust in the man's judgment, but to keep me informed at all times."

"Yes ma'am!"

((Break))

A specialist? Captain Salvatore didn't think there were any more CO's to send. But he trusted Commander Sasha, so he would listen to this guy, whoever he was. Sure enough, within minutes, a car drove up, and he couldn't believe his eyes. The guy wore a blue trenchcoat and a blue helmet, something strait from some video game. On top of the helmet, he wore a soldier's cap.

"You have got to be kidding me…" Captain Salvatore muttered to himself.

"Captain Salvatore, I'm the specialist that Commander Sasha sent you. You may call me the Gamer. No need for Sir, I'm technically a civilian advisor," the Gamer told him. The guy even had a voice modulator.

"Uh, right. I'm gonna have to run this through HQ to confirm," Salvatore told him, and he brought up the radio.

"Command, this is Captain Salvatore, I've got a guy here who claims to be the Specialist. He's wearing a full helmet and a trenchcoat. Is this him?"

"Put him on," Salvatore heard. It was Sasha herself. Salvatore handed the radio to the Gamer.

"Commander Sasha, it's good to hear your voice," the Gamer stated.

"I wish I could say the same, unless you really do sound like a robot. I'm assuming I am speaking with the Great Gamer?"

"That's correct."

"Right. Your objective is to secure the demolition sites of the Black Cannons, prevent the local HQ from being captured, and rout the enemy."

"I am aware of the mission parameters, as well as the secondary objectives of gathering additional information. The enemy is likely using the woods to hide their numbers and positions; Major Jameson is a specialist in utilizing stealth tactics, meaning he has the Fog of War on his side. Don't worry, Commander. We'll eradicate the terrorists."

"Good to hear it. I was reports every fifteen minutes."

"Will do, Commander. Gamer over and out," the gamer turned to Captain Salvatore, "I know this is an unusual situation, but bear with me, please. Inform your men that we are going for frags and caps. I want dead terrorists, and I want captured terrorists. Failure is not an option, this mission is too important."

"Uh, all right."

The Gamer had four tanks, four artillery, two rocket trucks, an anti-air tank, two Medium tanks, two APC's, four Recons, four Infantry and two Mechanized infantry. The artillery pieces had both explosive and flare ammunition. The Gamer had the troops load into the APC's, and he placed them in the mountains just south of the destroyed Black Cannons, to get a good view of the valley. Nearby, he placed the two medium tanks at the southmost destruction sites, where Jameson's forces were undoubtedly going to be coming from. The rockets were placed in the woods, to give covering fire, while the recons patrolled the roads, leaving the tanks, artillery, and APC's to patrol the woods themselves, as their treads would be unhindered by the thickets of the valley.

For several hours, it was nothing but boring patrol and report, but the Gamer was patient. He knew what he was doing. By putting the recons on the roads, and keeping everything else hidden, the Gamer was giving Jameson a target, while hiding his real forces. Ultimately, Jameson had the advantage of stealth on his side, and he always would. But the Gamer could still goad his opponent into making mistakes.

And the first one was made when a Mechanized infantry unit attacked his Recons. They requested tank and artillery assistance, but the Gamer just told them to pull back, and remain on the roads. The remaining patrollers started to panic, but the Gamer told them to stay their course. Salvatore's men were obviously starting to get demoralized from the lack of action, but when the Recon unit was finished off by a tank, the Gamer ordered the artillery to fire their flares, lighting up miles of woods, and revealing half a dozen units.

"Attack," the Gamer instructed, and the tanks moved in, with rockets blasting their armored targets. The first volleys were hasty and inaccurate, but as the tanks started destroying things and sending Jameson's troops back, their morale improved. The emphasis on frags was getting the soldiers pumped.

The soldiers in the mountains started to take sniper fire, so he ordered them to hide in the woods and start patrolling those areas. Jameson was moving his forces up to capture what he'd come for in order to get the mission done quickly. Since the bulk of his forces were being blasted by rockets, artillery, and tanks, the Major obviously wanted to get the objective.

But there were really big tanks in the way, so that wasn't going to happen.

"We're getting reports of enemy troops in the north," Captain Salvatore said, "Near the capital."

"Reinforcements are coming, remember?" the Gamer informed him, "The Headquarters will be secure within the next twenty minutes or so. Don't worry."

The snipers were soon found out by the patrolling APC's, and the Medium Tanks moved in for the kill, killing several of them, and allowing the hurt squads to avenge their buddies with follow-up attacks. Sure enough, reinforcements of three more Recons, two infantry squads, and two tanks rolled in from the west, and the Gamer had them occupy the nearby cities and start patrolling the woods. A trio of infantry squads were soon detected, and were turned into meat by the anti-air tank, though not without tanking a few prisoners.

Soon, the tank blasts quieted down, and the patrols resumed. The Gamer was confident that the battle was now over, as what units remained were making best speed south. Still, it didn't hurt to be careful. The Gamer gave standing instructions to the Captain, and contacted Commander Sasha.

"Commander, this is the Gamer. Operation Nature Trail complete and successful. The enemy has been routed, and we have prisoners. Morale is high, and the demolition sites are secure."

"Good to hear. And it's good to know that you're capable. When you have the next chance, I'd like to chat, face to…Mask. We're going to need a few background checks, but if I can get Olaf's approval, you may have a bright future in the Blue Moon military if you keep this up."

"Thank you, Commander. I look forward to meeting you," the Gamer stated simply.

"You know, you're not half bad, kid," Salvatore commented, "I'll keep Commander Sasha informed of the interrogations of the captured soldiers. Maybe we'll meet again."

"I would like that, Captain. Keep the troops in high spirits. They've done well."

"Will do."

The Gamer returned to his car, and started making phone calls. He was going to fly strait to the capital. And his mother told him that those video games would never get him any usable skills.

[Okay, so I've got it set so that Advance Wars was four years ago, and Empress Kana was disabled five years before that. Just for reference.

Here's the biography of the Gamer.

**The Gamer**: Blue Moon CO  
**Specialty:** Successful Attacks. Gains bonuses for total sum of damage done to the enemy-the damage he takes. If he takes 5000G damage, but dished out 10000G the previous day, he will get a buff proportionate to the difference; however, it works both ways, and can receive debuffs for losing more troops the previous day than the number he destroyed.  
**Power:** Pwnage. Only considers damage done. Unique in that he only gains the 10% firepower bonus the day the power is activated. The actual power takes effect the day _after._  
**Super Power:** Pure Pwnage. 20% firepower boost the day it activates, it adds both damage dealt and damage taken towards the buff the day after the power is activated.  
**Tags:** Colin (Bargain Bin, 15%)  
Lash (Dangerous Games, 10%)  
Jake (Gaming Mix, 10%)  
Javier (5%)  
Andy (5%)

A mysterious youth, the Gamer is well known on online gaming communities as being one of the greatest players in the world. Known online as 'The Great Gamer' and modeled his show personality on a classic book character, the Gamer came across Black Hole's online activities, and decided to tackle them head-on, leading the 'Online Campaign' of hackers and surfers to protect their communities. The Gamer volunteered his genius to Blue Moon to help handle the recent insurgencies in his home country.

**Hit: **Epic  
**Miss: **Fail


	8. Not All Hate is Cold

_Not All Hate is Cold_

Jake and Sasha didn't know what to do, what to say, or even what to think. All things considered, they were lucky that the paparazzi shot only them entering and leaving the nightclub, and hadn't tailed them any further. Sasha knew that Olaf already knew, this sort of thing wasn't the kind of information people just 'set aside' until later. An Anti-Blue Moon demonstration can wait. A sex scandal involving another country's CO isn't important. But one of his ranking officers involved in such a scandal, which sparks that demonstration? That wasn't good.

"We can't pretend it _didn't_ happen," Sasha remarked, breaking the silence.

"This ain't right, and we know it. Someone's set us up," Jake replied.

"But we were _actually_ there, Jake. These aren't faked. We can't deny that it happened, and we can't forget what happened _after._"

Jake's fist clenched, and he cracked his knuckles.

"Haters…This is just some hater. This ain't their business, Sasha. It's nobody's but ours."

"No, it's not. We're commanders in our respective militaries. They have every right to be concerned."

"So! Blue Moon and Orange Star ain't fighting. Who cares? What does it matter? They ain't living our lives, and we've been friends since the war. It _ain't_ affecting anything. Damnit…"

Sasha didn't know what to tell him. This was the sort of thing to break careers. Depending on Olaf's mood, it could break both of their careers, but Jake's was most definitely in jeopardy; Orange Star had strict military protocols about this sort of thing. And considering what Blue Moon has done in the past, she couldn't exactly blame them.

"I don't know what to do, Jake. All we can do is wait," she told him, "And that Gamer fellow…Oh, Olaf is going to be furious with me…"

Just as she finished speaking, the sillouette of the General could be seen through the door, and it opened. Olaf didn't say a word, he just sat down in one of the two chairs before her desk. He was obviously quite tired from the jet-lag and the lack of sleep. Sasha cleared her throat and stood strait.

"General Olaf," she greeted.

"General," Jake muttered, not looking him in the eye.

"A sniping, two terrorist attacks, and almost war with Yellow Comet, all within the course of two weeks. And now this," Olaf grumbled. He took out a handkerchief and wiped his face, "Well, if it's any comfort, you'll know that the attention isn't on you and Jake anymore. Evidently, there's been some controversy regarding Sami I heard about on the way over."

"Sami? Oh, no…She's been in Green Earth…" Jake commented.

"Uh huh. This is only going to get worse before it gets better. The Premier, in the meantime, has made a statement to the media. Sasha, I can't remove you from duty. But consider yourself as having a disciplinary military demerit, the consequences of which will be determined later. Not for fraternization, but for drunk while on duty. When you're in command, you're _always_ on duty, am I understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"You-You're not mad?" Jake asked, and Olaf smiled.

"Of course not. The difference between what you two did and the things I did when I was your age is that you got _caught._ Remember, I was once the commander of the Orange Star 'defense' forces during the Occupation. I did a few things that probably weren't the greatest of ideas. I'm not going to hold either of you accountable for just being yourselves. That would be irresponsible of me," Olaf explained, "That said, we have a story for you, and we're going to stick to it."

Olaf placed a pair of folders on Sasha's desk.

"The summary is that you two knew about the Assembly of Allies before I announced it, and decided to go celebrate. As friends. Nothing more than a momentary lapse of judgment. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir," they both agreed.

"Now, Jake, I suggest that you contact Nell as soon as possible. I need to speak with Sasha about official Blue Moon business," Olaf instructed, and Jake just nodded and darted out of the room, his nose in the folder.

"Okay, now you're going to tell me who this Gamer guy is," Olaf said, and Sasha nodded.

"Right. He's a competitive gamer. He plays video games as a professional, like an Olympic athlete for games."

"Uh huh. And why did you see fit to give him command of a vital antiterrorist operation?"

"He felt that he could ensure its success, and he was able to convince me that his loyalty was not in question. I've invested in this man personally, and I was confident in his ability to think critically and quickly. The only thing that was in question was his ability to handle a real-life situation, and he handled that with professionalism and ease. I needed a Commanding Officer in that situation as it was. It wasn't an easy call, but considering the information we were able to get out of the prisoners he captured, I'm glad I made it," Sasha replied. Olaf nodded.

"All right, but I can't give him command of anything unless I have a background check."

"Uh…Well, the Gamer is very protective of his identity. The most he's confided in me is that he has a mother, nothing else. A background check of his real identity may force him to refuse assistance again."

Olaf scratched his stubby nose, thinking.

"However, you will be able to speak with him yourself. I invited him here for debriefing. He seems to know a lot of Major Jameson and one…Captain Christopher Cobbler of-" Sasha added.

"Of Green Earth. Of course! I have a contact that may be able to help us out. Someone who would love to hear about Cobbler's involvement, and would be able to give us a reliable background check on the Gamer without giving away any of the man's personal information," Olaf commented, "If the Gamer has access to that kind of information, which I learned about just yesterday from Lash, then he's either a spy or an incredible asset."

"My vote goes with asset; he got his information from contacts in our cyberwarfare divisions, many of whom he led in a crusade against Black Hole," Sasha pointed out.

"Still, it doesn't hurt to double check. Why don't you take the rest of the day off, and sort your thoughts, Sasha?"

"Sir, you look far more fatigued than I, why don't you get some rest?"

"Do I have to make it an order?"

"Do I have to insist?" she retorted, and Olaf chuckled. Willful girl.

"All right, eight hours, and then I'm taking over. Don't allow Jake to leave this building until I get back, all right? I don't want the boy doing something stupid."

"I'll keep him here," she promised, and Olaf left it at that. Before headed off to officer's barracks for some shut-eye, he instructed the communications officer to reach his contact in Green Earth. They had to stay a step ahead of Jameson and his lackeys. Unfortunately, without knowing what direction Jameson was going in, it was impossible to know where to step next. In the meantime, however, Olaf was getting some shut-eye.

((Break))

Major Bartholomew Rodriguez Bernstein yawned widely, shifting through the various papers on his desk. Since the assassination attempt, Bernstein and eagle had been hard at work trying to track down Captain Cobbler, but they weren't having any luck. After his transfer to Star Island, there was almost nothing on him. Bigfoot style sighting and rumors, almost exclusively; nothing concrete. Nothing real. It was infuriating!

And then the controversy with Jake and Sasha, the anti-Blue Moon demonstration that afternoon, then the release of the Sami and Eagle photographs…There was some doubt about the true nature of Sasha and Jake, but there could _be_ no doubt about Sami and Eagle. That was why Bernstein requested Eagle in his office ASAP, before Eagle learned about the photographs. Sure enough, here came the good General.

"General Eagle, good to see you again. Please, sit," Bernstein offered, and he placed the 'special edition' of the Shooting Star on his desk, which had a photograph of Eagle and Sami in their meeting after the rescue from Adder and his laser cannons. The caption left nothing in doubt on what this meeting was about. Eagle picked up the tabloid paper, and then furiously threw it across the room.

"Now, it's bad enough that there's a rogue Orange Star officer trying to cause the next Blue Moon-Orange Star war while we're trying to prevent a major insurgency here, but what we don't need is Orange Star pointing fingers everywhere. Are you familiar with the Orange Committee?"

"No," Eagle grunted, staring at the wall, his face still red with anger.

"The Orange Committee was a congressional committee in Orange Star during one of the earlier wars between themselves and Blue Moon. Are you listening? In it, they accused their own citizens of conspiring with Blue Moon. If Orange Star feels that its command structure has been compromised, then they could go into a similar fervor. The demonstration earlier today only reflects the anti-Blue Moon sentiment that remains, despite Orange Star's continued aid to their neighbor."

"So I should just ignore Sami?" Eagle growled.

"No," Bernstein assured him, "No, I can't condone that. For you to suddenly cut off your relationship and contact with her would only make things worse. It would give the message that your relationship is clandestine in nature, rather than sexual or romantic. It would send the message that Sami is a spy, and that Green Earth is cutting its losses. That could lead to war with _us,_ and we want to avoid that. If anything, I want you to stay in contact with her."

"So that it looks like I'm actually committed to her," Eagle understood what the Major was saying, "So people will see that it's not a spy sort of situation."

"Exactly. Now, I can't give you orders. We're not in the same branch, and not even the same rank. But, eagle, this has to be handled with the utmost care. I need to know, Eagle: Was Sami your contact about Major Jameson?"

Eagle hesitated, then nodded.

"Then we need to keep that under wraps as much as possible. Even if Sami's leak was condoned or condonable, Orange Star has to release that bit of information."

"Sami didn't even explain everything, she just mentioned it as she was leaving, about the attack and that it was an Orange Star soldier. She just mentioned it in passing," Eagle commented. He'd calmed down, and it was obvious that he was trying to contain his emotions.

"Even so, that's still a major security breach for Orange Star. I'm sorry to say this, but I don't think Sami has a very long career ahead of her now."

"Damnit," Eagle moaned.

"We need to prevent this from coming to blows. Try and see if you can't contact Sami, and I'll keep this under wraps for now. The Prime Minister might want a few words with you, but before you speak with him, _contact me first_, okay?"

"I hear you, Major. I know that I've butted heads with you in the past, but, you're a good friend."

"I'm just doing my job. I've been the one protecting this country's intelligence agencies since the Second War. I'm not about to slow down now," Bernstein replied, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do."

"All right, thank you."

Eagle left without another word. He did the math in his head, and decided that Sami would be at home if she weren't dealing with this, herself. He didn't keep her personal or work number on his cell phone; Eagle kept a good old fashioned address book. At home. Damn.

Since he lived only a few miles away, it would be a quick drive. Besides, it would just be…Better if he spoke with her in private, away from probing ears or phones that could be recorded or otherwise tracked. Swiftly coming up into his long driveway, Eagle forgot to punch in his security code as he entered; he had it set to silent.

Removing his address book from behind his 'work at home' computer (he had three computers), he quickly tapped in the numbers into his home wireless phone. International service plans were great. Luckily, she was able to pick up.

"Eagle? I've been trying to call you all day. Are you at home?"

"Yeah, I am. I didn't think it would be appropriate to make the call at the base," he replied. That was half true; he also didn't want to tell her that he didn't have her number memorized.

"Eagle, there's talk that they're going to court-martial me. Some are even discussing a treason investigation."

"I know, just stay calm, we'll get through this. I've got a friend helping us keep it under wraps here in Green Earth."

"I am calm, you're the one panting like a dog that's been in the sun too long. Rachel tells me that we shouldn't avoid mentioning each other."

"My friend tells me the same thing, and I wouldn't have if he told me otherwise," Eagle assured her. He nonchalantly approached his window, and spotted something moving in the woods, but dismissed it as being a badger.

"This isn't the time for sweet-talk, Eagle. Listen, we haven't done anything wrong. We can't let the media or politicians spin this the wrong way."

Eagle saw someone step out of the woods, brandishing a rifle.

"Sami, I'll call you right back. I've got an intruder," he told her.

"What-" eagle had to hang up, and he headed to one of his safe rooms. To his surprise, however, it was already occupied.

"You!"

"'Ello again! Miss me?"

((Flashback!))

The Major was left to tackle the pile of papers on his desk, all of which were neatly arranged and categorized by importance. Although there were three Colonels and a General above him in rank in Green Earth Military Intelligence, everyone in the military knew that it was Major Bernstein that really ran things. The people above him were more or less liaisons to different parts of the military and to the Parliament, which saved Bernstein a lot time. That kept the government of his ass, and let him do his job.

Almost robotically attending to each of the memos and reports, he hadn't even realized he'd heard the phone, much less picked it up.

"Major Bernstein, talk to me."

"Major Bernstein, I'm calling on behalf of General Olaf of Blue Moon. I understand that you two have met?"

"Yes, General Olaf and I worked together during the Black Hole wars. How can I help?" Bernstein asked. During the Second War, Olaf had arranged for large numbers of Green Earth refugees to be shipped to safety, fleeing Black Hole imprisonment and experimentation.

"General Olaf needs a background check on someone, but he also needs the person's identity kept secret, and he says you're the only person who can guarantee this man's safety and security."

"Well, I'd love to help, but we're pretty swamped here in Green Earth, although I do appreciate Olaf's situation."

"We have reason to believe that this individual may know of a direct connect between Major Jameson's activities and Captain Cobbler's whereabouts and goals. This background check would give you direct access to this individual," the Blue Moon officer replied, and Bernstein sighed. Well, this was a better lead than what they don't have.

"All right, I'm assuming your government will handle my reason for being in Blue Moon?"

"It's already been arranged."

"Why can't we have more people that do that sort of thing here? All right, I'm on my way to the airport. Tell the General to hang tight; I'll be there in less than twelve hours," the Major told him, and hung up the phone, grabbing his coat. He passed his secretary.

"Inform the Colonel that I'll be out of the country for a few days, and that we finally have a lead, so he can get the MP off our ass about not finding Cobbler," he told her, and disappeared without another word. He was good about that. He wished he could have brought an ironed suit and maybe his tuxedo for a good night out (or just in case.) But there certainly wasn't time, and the only change of clothes he had involved blue jeans.

The drive to the airport wasn't a very long one, but something caught his eye-smoke, and lots of it, and the direction was suspiciously close to a number of homes that high-ranking officers of the Green Earth military were situated. Either someone was having a barbeque, a bonfire, or something had caught fire. Major Bernstein wasn't a man who assumed the best case scenario, and so he decided to take a little detour. His suspicions were confirmed when he was passed by five Recon trucks, and he put the pedal to the metal.

When he arrived at a military checkpoint, he slowed down, and stopped suddenly. Getting out of the car, he approached one of the soldiers.

"Who's in command here?" he asked, and the man pointed to a Green Earth trooper with an officer's star on the side of his helmet. An Army Major.

"What's going on, Major?" Bernstein asked.

"There was an attack on several of the homes here. We've got this handled."

"Have you identified the culprits?"

"Just some hooligans stirring up trouble, now, please, this is an Army affair."

"And _I_ am military intelligence, and I have reason to believe that this may be linked to an ongoing investigation. Now, you're going to tell me what's _really _going on," Bernstein stated firmly, and the Army officer knew he didn't have a choice.

"Several of the houses were set on fire. A bunch of officers live here, and there were reports of machine gun fire, probably one of the officers, so we've got soldiers and policemen combing the area," the Major explained. Bernstein seized a pair of binoculars, and started sweeping the area with them.

"How many fires were started?" he asked.

"Several."

"By how many groups?"

"We aren't sure."

Bernstein lowered the binoculars, "You'd better hope this is just a bunch of troublemakers. But inform your men that this is a probable terrorist situation, and that they should treat unidentified persons as potential hostiles. I want the officers and their families evacuated as soon as possible, and I want more vehicles. Recons will do fine; the armor just has to be fire resistant."

"Fire resistant?"

Bernstein ignored the Major's comment, and swept the area again with his binoculars. He identified one of the fires as coming from General Eagle's home!

"I need a unit of recons and a squad of troops," Bernstein growled.

"Whatfor?"

"Don't ask questions, just do it!"

"Now hold on-"

"NOW, MAJOR!"

The Army Major obviously didn't like being pushed around, but he waved for the troops to be assembled, and Bernstein went into the armory. Gas masks and anti-personnel rounds. That would work.

"I want the Recons loaded with these rounds, and I want all the troops to be wearing these. Does that APC have firing slots?" Bernstein asked, and the driver nodded.

"I want the squad in there. We're going to expect flamethrowers and molotovs and ground personnel. Is this the squad?"

"Sergeant Metzer, sir!" the squad leader bellowed.

"Gas masks and the APC, five minutes ago, trooper. Recons! Load your ammunition! You're going in first!" Bernstein yelled, and he grabbed a gas mask of his own. Damn things were uncomfortable, but it would keep him alive. He entered the APC, and poked his head out the top. The soldiers at least knew what they were doing, and were quickly in their gas masks. The recons were a few seconds behind with their ammunition, one of the feeders had jammed.

"Fix it on the go! Move out, troopers!" Major Bernstein yelled, and the squad loaded into the APC. It roared to life, and followed the recons down the road.

"We're going to General Eagle's property. It's the seventh driveway on the left. You'll be going down a long paved road which becomes dirt after a short while. You'll have woods on both sides, so stay frosty, there's a possibility of an ambush."

The recons moved down the driveway slowly, which allowed the gunners to spot any traps or ambushes along the way. Sure enough, a Molotov bottle smashed against the side of the front recon.

"Open fire!" Bernstein instructed, and the Recon trucks opened up on the thicket. The sounds of ceramic shattering, trees being pumped full of bullets and, of course, flesh taking fire. They'd probably just ruined Eagle's Comese-style garden, but if it killed the enemy…

"Huff it!" Bernstein instructed, and the vehicles sped up, with the occasional burst of gunfire deterring any further attacks. When they exited the driveway, it was as Bernstein feared. Eagle's house was ablaze, his cars were all similarly on fire, and he saw several figures in Eagle's private airfield, leading a helicopter out of the hangar. So that rumor was true, anyway, Eagle did have his own helicopter.

"Put rounds in that chopper! Don't let it or anyone escape, but watch your fire! They might have hostages!"

The Recon trucks were not afraid to follow those orders, opening fire on the crews as they roared down the hill. Rockets whizzed by and took out one of the recon trucks, but for the most part the terrorists kept their heads down. Molotov and incendiary grenades set fires in their path, but they weren't too effective. The anti-personnel rounds struck the chopper, but they didn't have all that much damage, as that's not what they were intended to be made for. The troopers poured out of the APC, opening fire on the enemy.

One of their opponents came out from his cover, bringing a flamethrower to bear and lit up, completely torching one of the Green Earth troopers before the flamethrower trooper was gunned down. The burned soldier screamed and writhed on the ground before his sergeant put a bullet in his own squadmate. Bernstein understood; once ablaze, there wasn't much hope, and that man had taken almost a point blank burst. The Recons wisely shifted their attention to the enemy soldiers once the helicopter was secured, as there wasn't much point in causing further property damage.

However, they heard a diesel engine roar to life, and a Black Hole APC with flames spraypainted on the side. It crashed through the Recons, totaling one, and drove past as if nothing had happened.

"This is Major Bernstein! We have a Black Hole APC headed to the main road. It is Hostile, but do not destroy it! VIP targets inside, one of which is General Eagle! Do not destroy the APC!"

The Green Earth soldiers re-entered the APC as the Recons have pursuit, opening fire despite the ineffectiveness of their rounds. The remaining vehicles gave pursuit; a flamethrower terrorist stood in the way and opened fire, but was just run over, causing a bloody smatter on the trees behind him. The pursuit went directly onto the main road, tailing the APC, which came up to a blockade of tanks, which opened fire with their machine guns, causing far more damage than the Recons were, but the APC went offroad. The Recons attempted to follow, but their wheels caused them to veer off-course, allowing for the APC to be the last pursuer.

"Sergeant! I want one of your troopers on the top with your heaviest gun! Everyone else, keep your weapons poked out, and take a shot if you have one! Keep them on their toes!"

The biggest man in the squad stood up, and started opening fire. Bernstein leaned over, and saw that someone was doing the same in the Black Hole APC, but with a flamethrower. At this range? Suddenly, the Major realized why; they weren't trying to set the APC or the gunner on fire, they were blocking the driver's view! The APC took a sudden turn, which the driver missed, and was forced to turn around, but it gave the soldiers a shot, and they all opened fire.

"A beach?" Bernstein realized where they were, and ordered the squad to pile out, and saw why they were at a beach; a black boat was there to meet the APC. Bernstein clearly saw Captain Cobbler dragging General Eagle behind him.

"Don't hit the General!" Bernstein instructed, and Sergeant Metzer stepped up and brought his scoped rifle to bear, and he aimed carefully.

"Take the shot at your leisure, Sergeant," Bernstein instructed, though speaking coolly. Metzer made no response, and opened fire. Missed. Undeterred, he adjusted, and followed Cobbler's movements. He fired again, and grazed a flamethrower trooper, and it was too late. They'd reached the Black Boat.

"CHARGE!" Bernstein ordered, taking out his sidearm, and the entire squad came at the enemy, though it wasn't a run or a literal charge; they kept their weapons up, and went just fast enough that it didn't interfere too much with their aim, taking out the rest of the enemy squad, but the Black Boat pulled away.

"Dammit!" Without a spotter unit, they wouldn't be able to track it, "No…Oh, god, no…Back to the APC! I want choppers in the air, and I want the Navy on high alert!"

The squad rushed back to the APC, leaving the flamethrower troopers behind, and Bernstein started relaying commands.

"Patch me through to Admiral Drake!" he ordered, and soon he had the Admiral on the line, "Admiral Drake, this is Major Bernstein. Captain Cobbler has General Eagle in a Black Boat. Black colors. I need it sunk."

"Major, I can't sink the boat if Eagle's on it," Drake replied.

"Yes, you can, and you must. We cannot allow Captain Cobbler to escape, nor can we allow the likes of him to hold such a hostage. Drake, if it were me being dragged off, I'd ask you to do the same thing."

There was a pause, and the response was made in helicopters and jets flying overhead. There was no guarantee that they would spot anything, but Black Boats weren't all that fast, nor could they hide. With enough in the air, they could find the vessel, and they would sink it. The loss of the trooper seemed to just hit the squad, who just started muttering to one another. Bernstein, on the other hand, wasn't even so much as concerned with the loss of the trooper. They were soldiers; it was part of what they did.

But Bernstein had just lost a General of the Air Force of his country, a man who thought of Bernstein as a friend. Bernstein didn't think he knew Eagle well enough to think the same in return, but the man still trusted him.

"I've got to find the connection…" he muttered.

"Say something, Major?" the Sergeant asked, and Bernstein shoot his head. He loosened his tie, and tried to think. It seemed inappropriate to leave the country when this happened on _his_ watch, but it was really the best lead they had. The APC stopped, and Bernstein followed the squad out, and called the office.

"Lisa, this is Bart. I was Mable and Günter to handle the investigation of the kidnapping of eagle-"

"What?"

"Just listen. Mable, Günter on the Eagle kidnapping. I'm following a lead in Blue Moon, I'll be back tomorrow or the day after. Tell the General to keep _all_ security forces on high alert, Code Black. I want the troops acting as if they were on the lookout for Black Hole attacks, do you understand? And have the Terror Watch bumped to maximum."

"So while we're off putting the country in panic, you're vacationing in Blue Moon?"

"_God dammit,_ Lisa, this is an emergency! I have a lead, but I need to be there personally, okay? If you backtalk me _one more god damn time_ I'm having you thrown in a cell, do you understand me? Just do as I tell you! Mabel will be in charge while I'm gone."

Click. Bernstein sped down the road, ignoring all the traffic signs or speed limits, taking what should have been a forty five minute drive less than twenty minutes to the military airport. He barely parked his car, he just drove up on a patch of grass and rushed into the terminal, not even bothering to wait for the proper security protocols. He outranked everyone here as it was. Within another twenty minutes, they were in the air, and Bernstein was making calls left and right.

This guy _better_ know _exactly_ what the hell was going on.

[And without further adue, here's the biography for Christopher Cobbler.

**Captain Cobbler**: Terrorist CO  
**Specialty:** Pyromunitions. If it burns, he uses it. All incendiary equipment (Flamethrowers, napalm, incendiary ammunition, flame tanks, etc.) are cheaper and do more damage. Flares set fires, increasing his Fog of War capabilities. All other equipment are more expensive, and normal equipment has -5 (Making his normal attacks 95/100.)  
**Power:** Incinerate! All fire-based weapons get a 20% boost. 10% regular firepower boost.  
**Super Power:** Wildfire. All fire-based weapons get a 35% boost. 20% regular firepower boost. All enemies take 2 damage. If they are on a forest or on plains, that tile is automatically set on fire, causing additional damage.  
**Tags:** Jameson (Scum of the Heart, 15%)  
Sami (Burning for You, 10% for Cobbler, -10% for Sami)  
Adder (Firewyrm, 10%)  
Other Terrorist CO's (5%)  
Ronin (-15%)  
Green Earth CO's (-5%)

A mysterious youth, the Gamer is well known on online gaming communities as being one of the greatest players in the world. Known online as 'The Great Gamer' and modeled his show personality on a classic book character, the Gamer came across Black Hole's online activities, and decided to tackle them head-on, leading the 'Online Campaign' of hackers and surfers to protect their communities. The Gamer volunteered his genius to Blue Moon to help handle the recent insurgencies in his home country.

**Hit: **Epic  
**Miss: **Fail


End file.
